Louis-Jérôme Gohier (27 February 1746 – 29 May 1830) was a French politician of the

Revolutionary A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective, to refer to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor. ...

period. Louis-Jérôme Gohier was born in

Semblançay Semblançay () is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France. Population See also *Communes of the Indre-et-Loire department The following is a list of the 272 communes of the Indre-et-Loire department of France. The ...

, in the Indre-et-Loire department of France. The son of a notary, he practiced law in

Rennes Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...

. In 1789, he was one of the deputies of the ''tiers état'' (Third Estate, representing the "Commoners") elected to represent the town in the Estates-general. In the Legislative Assembly, he represented Ille-et-Vilaine, taking a prominent part in the deliberations. He protested against the exaction of a new oath from priests (22 November 1791), and demanded the sequestration of the '' émigrés''' property (7 February 1792). Gohier was Minister of Justice from March 1793 to April 1794, overseeing the arrest of Girondists, and a member of the Council of Five Hundred. He succeeded

Jean Baptiste Treilhard Jean-Baptiste Treilhard (; 3 January 1742 – 1 December 1810) was an important French statesman of the revolutionary period. He passed through the troubled times of the Republic and Empire with great political savvy, playing a decisive role at ...

in the

French Directory The Directory (also called Directorate, ) was the governing five-member committee in the French First Republic from 2 November 1795 until 9 November 1799, when it was overthrown by Napoleon, Napoleon Bonaparte in the Coup of 18 Brumaire and r ...

(June 1799), where he represented the republican view in front of growing royalist opposition.

Gohier's interaction with Bonaparte

When Bonaparte suddenly returned from the Egyptian campaign in October 1799, he repeatedly tried to win Gohier, who was then president of the Directory, to his political projects. After Bonaparte's

18 Brumaire The Coup d'état of 18 Brumaire brought Napoleon Bonaparte to power as First Consul of France. In the view of most historians, it ended the French Revolution and led to the Coronation of Napoleon as Emperor. This bloodless ''coup d'état'' overt ...

(9 November 1799) ''coup d'état'', Gohier refused to resign his office, and sought an audience with Bonaparte at the Tuileries Palace, in an attempt to save the Republic. He was put under arrest and escorted to the Luxembourg Palace. On his release, two days later, he retired to his estate at Eaubonne. In 1802, Napoleon Bonaparte made Gohier consul-general at Amsterdam (in the

Batavian Republic The Batavian Republic ( nl, Bataafse Republiek; french: République Batave) was the successor state to the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands. It was proclaimed on 19 January 1795 and ended on 5 June 1806, with the accession of Louis Bona ...

), and on the union of the Kingdom of Holland with the

French Empire French Empire (french: Empire Français, link=no) may refer to: * First French Empire, ruled by Napoleon I from 1804 to 1814 and in 1815 and by Napoleon II in 1815, the French state from 1804 to 1814 and in 1815 * Second French Empire, led by Nap ...

, he was offered a similar post in the United States. However, Gohier's health did not permit him to take up this new appointment. He suffered from diseases for more than 20 years, before he died at Eaubonne (16 kilometer north of Paris). His wife, who had been a close friend to Joséphine de Beauharnais, had died in 1825, and, upon his death, Gohier left his wealth and surname to Mélanie d'Hervilly Hahnemann. Louis-Jérôme Gohier is buried next to his wife at the Père Lachaise cemetery.

Works

*''Mémoires d'un vétéran irréprochable de la Révolution'' (published in 1824) *A report on the papers of the

civil list A civil list is a list of individuals to whom money is paid by the government, typically for service to the state or as honorary pensions. It is a term especially associated with the United Kingdom and its former colonies of Canada, India, New Zeal ...

preparatory to the trial of King Louis XVI, printed in ''Le Procès de Louis XVI'' ( Paris) etc., while other reports are featured in the '' Le Moniteur Universel''.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gohier, Louis-Jerome 1746 births 1830 deaths People from Indre-et-Loire Directeurs of the First French Republic 19th-century French diplomats French memoirists Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery French male non-fiction writers 19th-century memoirists