Jacques-Alexis Thuriot De La Rosière
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Jacques-Alexis Thuriot (), known as Thuriot de la Rosière, and later as chevalier Thuriot de la Rosière, chevalier de l'Empire (1 May 1753 - 20 June 1829) was an important French statesman of the French Revolution, and a minor figure under the French Empire of
Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...
.


Early life and the French Revolution

Thuriot was born in
Sézanne Sézanne () is a commune in the Marne department and Grand Est region in north-eastern France. Its inhabitants are called ''Sézannais''. Population Notable people * Leonie Aviat, Saint * Floresca Guépin (1813–1889), feminist, teacher, ...
, Marne,
France 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 ...
in 1753. Admitted to the bar in Paris in 1778, he practiced law at
Reims Reims ( ; ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French Departments of France, department of Marne (department), Marne, and the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 12th most populous city in Fran ...
before the outbreak of the
Revolution In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...
in 1789. He took part in the events of 14 July 1789, acting as a negotiator on behalf of the revolutionaries, meeting with the governor of the Bastille just before the royal fortress was stormed. In 1790 during the term of the
National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...
, he was named a tribunal judge for the district of Sézanne, and he joined the
Jacobin 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 political cl ...
Club. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly (1791–1792) as a representative of the département of Marne. As the French monarchy tottered during 1792, he was named deputy member of the Extraordinary Commission of Twelve (18 June 1792 - 21 September 1792). Soon after
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- ...
was deposed, Thuriot was elected (3 September 1792) to the new
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 ...
(1792–1795) as deputy for Marne. He voted for the death sentence in the
trial of Louis XVI The trial of Louis XVI—officially called "Citizen Louis Capet" since being dethroned—before the National Convention in December 1792 was a key event of the French Revolution. He was convicted of high treason and other crimes, resulting in ...
. He was one of the more radical members, often speaking against the
Girondist 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 ...
faction, and even calling
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 ...
"moderate". He served as Vice-President (9 April - 18 April 1793) and President (27 June - 11 July 1793), and was elected to the increasingly powerful
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 ...
(10 July - 20 September 1793). He resigned from the committee as the
Reign of Terror The Reign of Terror (French: ''La Terreur'', literally "The Terror") was a period of the French Revolution when, following the creation of the French First Republic, First Republic, a series of massacres and Capital punishment in France, nu ...
began.


Thermidorean reaction

Thuriot was one of the bolder opponents 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 ...
. The scholar
Georges Lefebvre Georges Lefebvre (; 6 August 1874 – 28 August 1959) was a French historian, best known for his work on the French Revolution and peasant life. He is considered one of the pioneers of " history from below". He coined the phrase th ...
counts him as a key ally of
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 gover ...
, who was executed by the machinations of Robespierre on 5 April 1794. During the Festival of the Supreme Being (8 June 1794), Thuriot said of Robespierre presiding: “Look at the bugger; it’s not enough for him to be master, he has to be God.” During the fateful session of the Convention on 9
Thermidor Thermidor () was the eleventh month in the French Republican calendar. The month was named after the French word ''thermal'', derived from the Greek word ''thermos'' 'heat'. Thermidor was the second month of the summer quarter (''mois d'été ...
, Year II (27 July 1794), Thuriot presided in the absence of then-president
Jean-Marie Collot d'Herbois Jean-Marie Collot d'Herbois (; 19 June 1749 – 8 June 1796) was a French actor, dramatist, essayist, and revolutionary. He was a member of the Committee of Public Safety during the Reign of Terror and, while he saved Madame Tussaud from the ...
, and by refusing to allow Robespierre to make a speech, he sealed the fate of the Robespierrist faction. In the days immediately following Thermidor he was elected president of 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 ...
(5 August - 24 August 1794) and exercised an important restraining influence on one of France's most radical bodies. He was among those who replaced the purged members of the Committee of Public Safety during his second term (31 July - 5 December 1794). In 1795, he soon turned against the new political order, disgruntled by the abandonment of the Constitution of 1793 and the rehabilitation of the
Girondists 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 ...
. On 5 April 1795, in the wake of the Jacobin-led Germinal Insurrection which he was accused of preparing, Thuriot's name was included among the many arrests ordered, but he eluded capture. A second order of arrest was issued on 21 May after the even more violent Prairial Insurrection, and this time a large force was dispatched into the faubourgs to find where Thuriot was in hiding with
Pierre-Joseph Cambon Pierre-Joseph Cambon (, 10 June 1756 – 15 February 1820) was a French statesman. He is perhaps best known for speaking up against Maximilien Robespierre at the National Convention, sparking the end of Robespierre's reign. Born in Montpellier, ...
. Once again he escaped and went into hiding until the amnesty of 26 October, which signalled the end of the National Convention and the Thermidorian Reaction and the beginning of the Directory.


Later career

Thuriot was appointed (14 November 1796) as a commissioner to the civil and criminal tribunals of Marne, and he later served as deputy judge and judge in the criminal tribunal of
Seine The Seine ( , ) is a river in northern France. Its drainage basin is in the Paris Basin (a geological relative lowland) covering most of northern France. It rises at Source-Seine, northwest of Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plat ...
. During the French Empire he held positions in the imperial court of appeals, and Bonaparte named him Thuriot de la Rosière, chevalier de l'Empire on 16 May 1813. Under the
Bourbon Restoration Bourbon Restoration may refer to: France under the House of Bourbon: * Bourbon Restoration in France (1814, after the French revolution and Napoleonic era, until 1830; interrupted by the Hundred Days in 1815) Spain under the Spanish Bourbons: * Ab ...
, he was banished in 1816 as a
regicide Regicide is the purposeful killing of a monarch or sovereign of a polity and is often associated with the usurpation of power. A regicide can also be the person responsible for the killing. The word comes from the Latin roots of ''regis'' ...
and died in exile in
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,
Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
(now in
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).


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thuriot de la Rosière, Jacques-Alexis 19th-century French politicians 1753 births 1829 deaths People of the French Revolution Knights of the First French Empire People from Marne (department) People on the Committee of Public Safety