Adrien Duport (6 February 17596 July 1798) was a French

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

, and lawyer. He was an influential advocate in the

parlement A ''parlement'' (), under the French Ancien Régime, was a provincial appellate court of the Kingdom of France. In 1789, France had 13 parlements, the oldest and most important of which was the Parlement of Paris. While both the modern Fre ...

, and was prominent in opposition to the ministers Calonne and Loménie de Brienne.

Life

Adrien Jean Françoise Duport was born in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. Elected in 1789, to the states-general by the Paris

nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy (class), aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below Royal family, royalty. Nobility has often been an Estates of the realm, estate of the realm with many e ...

, he displayed remarkable eloquence. As a jurist, he contributed during the

Constituent Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

to the organization of the judiciary of France. In his report of March 29, 1790, he advocated

trial by jury A jury trial, or trial by jury, is a legal proceeding in which a jury makes a decision or findings of fact. It is distinguished from a bench trial in which a judge or panel of judges makes all decisions. Jury trials are used in a significant ...

; but failed to introduce the jury system in civil cases. Duport formed with Barnave and Alexandre de Lameth a group known as the "triumvirate," which was popular at first. But after the flight of King

Louis XVI Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was ...

Varennes Varennes-en-Argonne (, literally ''Varennes in Argonne'') or simply Varennes (German: Wöringen) is a commune in the Meuse department in the Grand Est region in Northeastern France. In 2019, it had a population of 639. Geography Varennes-en-Ar ...

, Duport tried to defend him; as member of the commission charged to question the king, he found excuses, and on July 14, 1791, he opposed the formal accusation. Having separated himself from the

Jacobins , logo = JacobinVignette03.jpg , logo_size = 180px , logo_caption = Seal of the Jacobin Club (1792–1794) , motto = "Live free or die"(french: Vivre libre ou mourir) , successor = Pa ...

, he joined the Feuillant party. After the Constituent Assembly, he became president of the criminal tribunal of Paris, but was arrested by

Danton Georges Jacques Danton (; 26 October 1759 – 5 April 1794) was a French lawyer and a leading figure in the French Revolution. He became a deputy to the Paris Commune, presided in the Cordeliers district, and visited the Jacobin club. In August ...

during the insurrection of 10 August 1792. He escaped, thanks to evidence provided by

Jean-Paul Marat Jean-Paul Marat (; born Mara; 24 May 1743 – 13 July 1793) was a French political theorist, physician, and scientist. A journalist and politician during the French Revolution, he was a vigorous defender of the ''sans-culottes'', a radical ...

,From speech made by Danton during his trial, transcribed in Discours de Danton ed. A. Fribourg, SHRF, 1910 and fled to Switzerland. He returned to France after the

9th of Thermidor The Thermidorian Reaction (french: Réaction thermidorienne or ''Convention thermidorienne'', "Thermidorian Convention") is the common term, in the historiography of the French Revolution, for the period between the ousting of Maximilien Robespie ...

of the year II (27 July 1794), left it in exile again after the republican ''coup d'état'' of 18 Fructidor of the year V (4 September 1797), and died at

Appenzell Appenzell is a historic canton in the northeast of Switzerland, and entirely surrounded by the canton of St. Gallen. Appenzell became independent of the Abbey of Saint Gall in 1403 and entered a league with the Old Swiss Confederacy in 1411, ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

in 1798.

Sources

* F.A. Aulard, ''Les Orateurs de la Constituante'' (2nd ed., Paris, 1905, 8vo).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duport, Adrien 1759 births 1798 deaths Politicians from Paris Jacobins Feuillants Members of the National Constituent Assembly (France)