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 of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...
tist, poet, and politician of the
French Revolution
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...
.
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 (, also , , ; ; la, Carcaso) is a French fortified city in the department of Aude, in the region of Occitanie. It is the prefecture of the department.
Inhabited since the Neolithic, Carcassonne is located in the plain of the Au ...
,
Aude. His surname was Fabre, the ''d'Églantine'' being added in commemoration of his receiving a silver
wild rose (french: églantine) from
Clémence Isaure
Clémence Isaure is a quasi-legendary French medieval figure credited with founding or restoring the Acadèmia dels Jòcs Florals or Academy of the Floral Games. She is supposed to have left a legacy to fund awards in the form of gold and silver ...
from the
Academy of the ''Jeux Floraux'' at
Toulouse
Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Pa ...
. 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, 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), ma ...
, where he produced an unsuccessful
comedy
Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or 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. The term o ...
entitled ''Les Gens de lettres, ou Le provincial à Paris'' (1787).
A
tragedy
Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy ...
, ''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
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...
. 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 greatest writers in the French language and worl ...
's ''
Le Misanthrope
''The Misanthrope, or the Cantankerous Lover'' (french: Le Misanthrope ou l'Atrabilaire amoureux; ) 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 b ...
'', 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
A patriot is a person with the quality of patriotism.
Patriot may also refer to:
Political and military groups United States
* Patriot (American Revolution), those who supported the cause of independence in the American Revolution
* Patriot m ...
citizen, while Philinte is a dangerous
aristocrat 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, writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects of the French Revolu ...
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, and belonged also to the
Jacobin Club.
Georges Danton chose Fabre as his private secretary, and he sat in the
National Convention
The National Convention (french: link=no, Convention nationale) was the parliament of the Kingdom of France for one day and the French First Republic for the rest of its existence during the French Revolution, following the two-year Nationa ...
of 1792-1794. D'Églantine voted for the death of
King
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
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 ...
, supporting the ''
maximum
In mathematical analysis, the maxima and minima (the respective plurals of maximum and minimum) of a function, known collectively as extrema (the plural of extremum), are the largest and smallest value of the function, either within a given r ...
'' and a law which allowed for
summary executions, and he was a bitter enemy of the
Girondin
The Girondins ( , ), or Girondists, were members of a loosely knit political faction during the French Revolution. From 1791 to 1793, the Girondins were active in the Legislative Assembly and the National Convention. Together with the Montagnard ...
s.
After the death of
Jean-Paul Marat (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 was introduced in October 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian calendar. The principal change was to space leap years dif ...
in France he sat on the committee entrusted with the creation of the
French Republic's
French Republican Calendar. The calendar was designed by the politician and agronomist
Gilbert Romme
Charles-Gilbert Romme (26 March 1750 – 17 June 1795) was a French politician and mathematician who developed the French Republican Calendar.
Biography
Charles Gilbert Romme was born in Riom, Puy-de-Dôme, in the Auvergne region of France, where ...
, 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 word ''flos'', which means ''flower''.
Floréal was the second month of the spring quarter (''mois de printemps''). It started 20 April ...
'', 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 founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century; the term distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the ...
François Chabot burst into
Maximilien Robespierre
Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre (; 6 May 1758 – 28 July 1794) was a French lawyer and statesman who became one of the best-known, influential and controversial figures of the French Revolution. As a member of the Esta ...
'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
The French East India Company (french: Compagnie française pour le commerce des Indes orientales) was a colonial commercial enterprise, founded on 1 September 1664 to compete with the English (later British) and Dutch trading companies in th ...
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 on a charge of malversation and
forgery in connection with the affairs of the
French East India Company
The French East India Company (french: Compagnie française pour le commerce des Indes orientales) was a colonial commercial enterprise, founded on 1 September 1664 to compete with the English (later British) and Dutch trading companies in th ...
. 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 efficiently carrying out executions by beheading. The device consists of a tall, upright frame with a weighted and angled blade suspended at the top. The condemned person is secured with stocks at t ...
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
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 ...
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 Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects of the French Revolu ...
'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.
Biography Early life
Greuze was born at Tournus, a market town in Burgundy. He is generally said to have formed h ...
). 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 relea ...
's ''
A Place of Greater Safety'', a novel about the French Revolution.
*Fabre also appears as a secondary character in
Emma Orczy's ''
The Way of the Scarlet Pimpernel
''The Way of the Scarlet Pimpernel'', by Baroness Orczy, is another sequel book to the adventure tale, ''The Scarlet Pimpernel
''The Scarlet Pimpernel'' is the first novel in a series of historical fiction by Baroness Orczy, published in 19 ...
''.
References
* The Britannica cites as its sources:
**Albert Maurin, ''Galerie hist. de la Révolution française'', tome n
**
Jules Janin
Jules Gabriel Janin (16 February 1804 – 19 June 1874) was a French writer and critic.
Life and career
Born in Saint-Étienne (Loire), Janin's father was a lawyer, and he was educated first at St. Étienne, and then at the lycée Louis-le-Gra ...
, ''Histoire de la littérature dramatique''
**
André Chénier
André Marie Chénier (; 30 October 176225 July 1794) was a French poet of Greek and Franco-Levantine origin, associated with the events of the French Revolution of which he was a victim. His sensual, emotive poetry marks him as one of the precur ...
, ''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
**Theirs, 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
Deputies to the French National Convention
Regicides of Louis XVI
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