HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Philippe François Nazaire Fabre d'Églantine (; 28 July 1750 – 5 April 1794), commonly known as Fabre d'Églantine, was a French actor,
drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...
tist, poet, and politician of the French Revolution. He is best known for having invented the names of the months in the French Republican calendar, and for the song Il pleut, il pleut, bergère which is still a popular nursery rhyme today.


Early life

He was born in
Carcassonne Carcassonne is a French defensive wall, fortified city in the Departments of France, department of Aude, Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania. It is the prefectures in France, prefecture of the department. ...
,
Aude Aude ( ; ) is a Departments of France, department in Southern France, located in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region and named after the river Aude (river), Aude. The departmental council also calls it " ...
. His surname was Fabre, the ''d'Églantine'' being added in commemoration of his receiving a silver wild rose () from Clémence Isaure from the Academy of the ''Jeux Floraux'' at
Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...
. He married Marie Strasbourg Nicole Godin on 9 November 1778. His earliest works included the poem ''Étude de la nature'', "The Study of Nature", in 1783. After travelling in the provinces as an actor, he came to
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 ...
, where he produced an unsuccessful
comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...
entitled ''Les Gens de lettres, ou Le provincial à Paris'' (1787). A
tragedy A tragedy is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a tragic hero, main character or cast of characters. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy is to invoke an accompanying catharsi ...
, ''Augusta'', produced at the '' Théâtre Français'', also proved a failure. Many of his plays were popular and he is remarked as one of the most important playwrights during the French Revolution. His most popular play was: ''Philinte, ou La suite du Misanthrope'' (1790), supposed to be a continuation of
Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, ; ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the great writers in the French language and world liter ...
's ''
Le Misanthrope ''The Misanthrope, or the Cantankerous Lover'' (; ) is a 17th-century comedy of manners in verse written by Molière. It was first performed on 4 June 1666 at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal, Paris by the King's Players. The play satirizes the ...
'', but the hero of the piece is a different character from the nominal prototype —a pure and simple egotist. On its publication, the play was introduced by a preface, in which the author satirises ''L'Optimiste'' of his rival Jean François Collin d'Harleville, whose ''Châteaux en Espagne'' had gained the applause which Fabre's ''Présomptueux'' (1789) had failed to win. The character of Philinte had much political significance. The play's character Alceste received the highest praise, and stands for the patriot
citizen Citizenship is a membership and allegiance to a sovereign state. Though citizenship is often conflated with nationality in today's English-speaking world, international law does not usually use the term ''citizenship'' to refer to nationality ...
, while Philinte is a dangerous
aristocrat The aristocracy (''from Greek'' ''ἀριστοκρατία'' ''aristokratía'', "rule of the best"; ''Latin: aristocratia'') is historically associated with a "hereditary" or a "ruling" social class. In many states, the aristocracy included the ...
in disguise. Fabre constructed the play to represent what he envisioned as the new relationship between theater and society. Not only did Fabre believe that Old Regime society was bankrupt; Old Regime comedy was viewed by the budding playwright as equally without value. Fabre d’Eglantine believed that he could fashion a place for theater in revolutionary culture and redeem French drama by developing a new form of theater that would promote the new social order of equality and fraternity. He found his justification and framework in
Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Genevan philosopher ('' philosophe''), writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects ...
s’s critique of theatricality and advocated transparency as the critical transformative element that could generate theater worthy of and in keeping with revolutionary culture. As envisioned by Fabre, evolutionary political institutions would not shape theater; rather, a regenerated revolutionary theatrical culture would redeem the work of art, generating a new, revolutionary society.


Political activity

Fabre served as president and secretary of the club of the
Cordeliers The Society of the Friends of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen ( ), mainly known as Cordeliers Club ( ), was a Populism, populist List of political groups in the French Revolution, political club during the French Revolution from 1790 to 179 ...
, and belonged also to the
Jacobin Club 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 ...
.
Georges Danton Georges Jacques Danton (; ; 26 October 1759 – 5 April 1794) was a leading figure of the French Revolution. A modest and unknown lawyer on the eve of the Revolution, Danton became a famous orator of the Cordeliers Club and was raised to gove ...
chose Fabre as his private secretary, and he sat in the
National Convention The National Convention () was the constituent assembly of the Kingdom of France for one day and the French First Republic for its first three years during the French Revolution, following the two-year National Constituent Assembly and the ...
of 1792-1794. D'Églantine voted for the death of
King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...
Louis XVI Louis XVI (Louis-Auguste; ; 23 August 1754 – 21 January 1793) was the last king of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. The son of Louis, Dauphin of France (1729–1765), Louis, Dauphin of France (son and heir- ...
, supporting the ''
maximum In mathematical analysis, the maximum and minimum of a function (mathematics), function are, respectively, the greatest and least value taken by the function. Known generically as extremum, they may be defined either within a given Interval (ma ...
'' and a law which allowed for
summary execution In civil and military jurisprudence, summary execution is the putting to death of a person accused of a crime without the benefit of a free and fair trial. The term results from the legal concept of summary justice to punish a summary offense, a ...
s, and he was a bitter enemy of the
Girondin The Girondins (, ), also called Girondists, were a political group during the French Revolution. From 1791 to 1793, the Girondins were active in the Legislative Assembly and the National Convention. Together with the Montagnards, they initiall ...
s. After the death of
Jean-Paul Marat Jean-Paul Marat (, , ; born Jean-Paul 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 ...
(13 July 1793), Fabre published ''Portrait de
l'Ami du Peuple ''L'Ami du peuple'' (, ''The Friend of the People'') was a newspaper written by Jean-Paul Marat during the French Revolution. "The most celebrated radical paper of the Revolution", according to historian Jeremy D. Popkin, ''L’Ami du peuple ...
''. On the abolition of the
Gregorian Calendar The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It went into effect in October 1582 following the papal bull issued by Pope Gregory XIII, which introduced it as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian cale ...
in France he sat on the committee entrusted with the creation of the
French Republic France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
's French Republican Calendar. The calendar was designed by the politician and agronomist Gilbert Romme, although it is usually attributed to Fabre d'Eglantine, who invented the names of the months. This Calendar featured a ten-day week so that Sunday would be forgotten as a religious day, and the months were named after the intrinsic qualities of the seasons. He contributed a large part of the new nomenclature; for example, the months of '' Prairial'' and ''
Floréal Floréal () was the eighth month in the French Republican calendar. The month was named after the Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was or ...
'', as well as the days '' Primidi'' and '' Duodi''. The report which he made on the subject, on 24 October 1793, described the aim of the commission as "to substitute for visions of ignorance the realities of reason, and for sacerdotal prestige the truth of nature," to exalt "the agricultural system…by marking the days and the divisions of the year with intelligible or visible signs taken from agriculture and rural life."


Execution and legacy

Early on the morning of 14 November 1793, the Montagnard and former
friar A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders in the Catholic Church. There are also friars outside of the Catholic Church, such as within the Anglican Communion. The term, first used in the 12th or 13th century, distinguishes the mendi ...
François Chabot burst into
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 ...
's bedroom dragging him from bed with accusations of counter-revolution and conspiracy, waving a hundred thousand livres in assignat notes, claiming that a band of royalist plotters gave it to him to buy Fabre d'Eglantine's vote, along with others, to liquidate some stock in an overseas trading concern. The fraud that he spoke of regarding Fabre had been carried out in early October, when the French East India Company had been liquidated in accordance with the anti-capitalist legislation of the summer. The decree had apparently been falsified so that the directors were blackmailed into turning over the half-million-livre profits of this exercise to the cabal of the Convention members responsible. In 1794, Robespierre had evidence of Fabre's criminality and he denounced Fabre for what he viewed as a particular heinous crime, criminality disguised by patriotism. On 12 January 1794 Fabre was arrested by order of the
Committee of Public Safety The Committee of Public Safety () was a committee of the National Convention which formed the provisional government and war cabinet during the Reign of Terror, a violent phase of the French Revolution. Supplementing the Committee of General D ...
on a charge of malversation and
forgery Forgery is a white-collar crime that generally consists of the false making or material alteration of a legal instrument with the specific mens rea, intent to wikt:defraud#English, defraud. Tampering with a certain legal instrument may be fo ...
in connection with the affairs of the French East India Company. This struck a hard blow to the Montagnards and sent them on their way to extinction in the Convention. During his trial, d'Eglantine was asked to testify in his own defense and tried to twist the facts around, accusing other people, but was unsuccessful. According to legend, Fabre showed the greatest calmness and sang his own well-known song:
'' Il pleut, il pleut, bergère,''
''rentre tes blancs moutons.''
Fabre died under the
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 ...
on 5 April 1794 with the other Dantonists. On his way to the scaffold he distributed his handwritten poems to the people. According to a popular legend, Fabre complained bitterly about the injustice done to him on the way to the scaffold, whereupon Danton replied with supreme sarcasm: "''Des vers... Avant huit jours, tu en feras plus que tu n'en voudras!''" ("''Before eight days have passed, you'll make more of them than you would like to''"), where "''them''" (''vers'') can be understood as either "''verses''" or "''worms''". A posthumous play, ''Les Précepteurs'', using the themes of
Jean-Jacques Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Republic of Geneva, Genevan philosopher (''philosophes, philosophe''), writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment through ...
's '' Emile: Or, On Education'', was performed on 17 September 1794 and met with an enthusiastic reception. Among Fabre's other plays are ''Le Convalescent de qualité'' (1791), and ''L'Intrigue épistolaire'' (1791, supposedly including a depiction of the painter
Jean-Baptiste Greuze Jean-Baptiste Greuze (, 21 August 1725 – 4 March 1805) was a French painter of portraits, genre scenes, and history painting. Early life Greuze was born at Tournus, a market town in Burgundy. He is generally said to have formed his own ...
). The author's ''Œuvres mêlées et posthumes'' were first published at Paris in 1802 in two volumes.


Fictional accounts

*Fabre appears as a major character in
Hilary Mantel Dame Hilary Mary Mantel ( ; born Thompson; 6 July 1952 – 22 September 2022) was a British writer whose work includes historical fiction, personal memoirs and short stories. Her first published novel, ''Every Day Is Mother's Day'', was releas ...
's ''
A Place of Greater Safety ''A Place of Greater Safety'' is a 1992 novel by Hilary Mantel. It concerns the events of the French Revolution, focusing on the lives of Georges Danton, Camille Desmoulins, and Maximilien Robespierre from their childhood through the executio ...
'', a novel about the French Revolution. *Fabre also appears as a secondary character in Emma Orczy's '' The Way of the Scarlet Pimpernel''.


Bibliography

*''Les Amants de Beauvais'' (1776) *''L'étude de la nature. Poème à M. le comte de Buffon'' (1783) *''Augusta, tragédie en cinq actes'' (1787)
''Le Présomptueux, ou l'Heureux imaginaire''
(1790)
''Le Philinte de Molière, ou la Suite du Misanthrope''
(1791)
''Le Collatéral, ou l'Amour et l'intérêt''
(1791)
''Le Convalescent de qualité, ou l'Aristocrate''
(1791) *''Isabelle de Salisbury. Comédie nouvelle, héroïque et lyrique, en trois actes en prose'' (1791)
''L'Intrigue épistolaire''
(1792)
''Opinion de Ph.-Fr.-Na. Fabre-Églantine, député du département de Paris, sur l'appel au peuple, relativement au jugement de Louis''
Imprimée par ordre de la Convention (1793)
''Portrait de Marat''
(1793) *''L'Évangile des Républicains, précédé du rapport fait par le citoyen Fabre d'Églantine sur le nouveau calendrier décrété par la Convention nationale'' (1793) *''Calendrier de la république française, une et indivisible, au nom de la commission chargée de sa confection'' (1794)
''Discours (1) prononcé dans la Société, etc.''
(1794) *''Fabre d'Églantine à ses concitoyens, à la Convention nationale et aux comités de salut public et de sûreté générale. Précis apologétique'' 794 Published posthumously:
''Correspondance amoureuse de Fabre d'Églantine, précédée d'un précis historique de son existence et d'un fragment de sa vie écrit par lui-même, suivie de sa satyre sur les spectacles de Lyon et d'autres pièces fugitives''. Tome IITome III
(1796)
''Les Précepteurs''
(1799)
''Œuvres mêlées et posthumes, de Ph.-Fr.-Naz. Fabre d'Églantine''. Tome premierTome second
(1803) *''Mémoire d'une aventure en 1777'' (2020)


References

* The Britannica cites as its sources: **Albert Maurin, ''Galerie hist. de la Révolution française'', tome n ** Jules Janin, ''Histoire de la littérature dramatique'' ** André Chénier, ''Tableau de la littérature française''; FA Aulard in the ''Nouvelle Revue'' (July 1885). *Andress, David (2006). ''The Terror: The Merciless War for Freedom in Revolutionary France''. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux. * * * Linton, Marisa. 2013. ''Choosing Terror: Virtue, Friendship and Authenticity in the French Revolution''. Oxford: Oxford University Press. *Maslan, Susan (2005). ''Revolutionary Acts: Theater, Democracy, and the French Revolution''. Baltimore:
Johns Hopkins University Press Johns Hopkins University Press (also referred to as JHU Press or JHUP) is the publishing division of Johns Hopkins University. It was founded in 1878 and is the oldest continuously running university press in the United States. The press publi ...
. * Thiers, Adolphe (1838). ''The History of the French Revolution''. London: R. Bentley.


Notes


External links


Fabre d’Églantine: ''Rapport sur le calendrier révolutionnaire'' (in French)

Encyclopædia Britannica, Philippe Fabre d'Eglantine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fabre D'Eglantine 1750 births 1794 deaths People from Carcassonne Male actors from Occitania (administrative region) Deputies to the French National Convention 18th-century French dramatists and playwrights French male stage actors 18th-century French male actors Executed writers French people executed by guillotine during the French Revolution Executed regicides of Louis XVI