Augustin Alexandre Darthé (10 October 1769 – 27 May 1797) was a French revolutionary.

Life

Revolutionary

Born in Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise, he became administrator of the '' département'' of

Pas-de-Calais The Pas-de-Calais (, ' strait of Calais'; ; ) is a department in northern France named after the French designation of the Strait of Dover, which it borders. It has the most communes of all the departments of France, with 890, and is the ...

after the outbreak of the French Revolution, and, as an admirer of

Maximilien Robespierre Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre (; ; 6 May 1758 – 28 July 1794) was a French lawyer and statesman, widely recognised as one of the most influential and controversial figures of the French Revolution. Robespierre ferv ...

, became a public agitator. He escaped the death penalty after the Thermidorian Reaction, and befriended

François-Noël Babeuf François-Noël Babeuf (; 23 November 1760 – 27 May 1797), also known as Gracchus Babeuf, was a French proto-communist, revolutionary, and journalist of the French Revolutionary period. His newspaper ''Le tribun du peuple'' (''The Tribune of ...

, being one of the main contributors to the

conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, ploy, or scheme, is a secret plan or agreement between people (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder, treason, or corruption, especially with a political motivat ...

planned by the latter against the

French Directory The Directory (also called Directorate; ) was the system of government established by the Constitution of the Year III, French Constitution of 1795. It takes its name from the committee of 5 men vested with executive power. The Directory gov ...

. The action ought to have reflected the ''Manifesto of Equals'', written by Sylvain Maréchal, aiming at taking the power by violence and forcing an egalitarian society, questioning the fact that democratic elections can be trusted to improve society.

Arrest and trial

On 10 May 1796 Babeuf was arrested with many of his associates, among whom was Darthé. The common trial was fixed to take place before the newly constituted High Court of Justice at Vendôme. On 10 and 11 Fructidor (27 and 28 August 1796), when the prisoners were removed from

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, there were tentative efforts at a riot and planned rescue, but these were easily suppressed. The attempt of five or six hundred

Jacobins The Society of the Friends of the Constitution (), renamed the Society of the Jacobins, Friends of Freedom and Equality () after 1792 and commonly known as the Jacobin Club () or simply the Jacobins (; ), was the most influential List of polit ...

(7 September) to rouse the soldiers at Grenelle met with no better success. The trial, begun at Vendôme on 20 February 1797, lasted two months. On 7 Prairial (26 May) Babeuf and Darthé were sentenced to death, and

guillotine A guillotine ( ) is an apparatus designed for effectively carrying out executions by Decapitation, beheading. The device consists of a tall, upright frame with a weighted and angled blade suspended at the top. The condemned person is secur ...

d at Vendôme the next day (8 Prairial).

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Darthe, Augustin Alexandre 1769 births 1797 deaths People from Pas-de-Calais French people executed by guillotine during the French Revolution People involved in the Conspiracy of the Equals