Jean-Pierre-André Amar or Jean-Baptiste-André Amar (May 11, 1755 – December 21, 1816) was a French political figure 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 ...

and Freemason.

Life

Early activities

Born in a rich family of cloth merchants in

Grenoble Grenoble ( ; ; or ; or ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Isère Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region ...

, Amar was the son of the former Director of the Mint. He became a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

for the local ''

parlement Under the French Ancien Régime, a ''parlement'' () was a provincial appellate court of the Kingdom of France. In 1789, France had 13 ''parlements'', the original and most important of which was the ''Parlement'' of Paris. Though both th ...

'' in 1774. In 1786, he purchased the title of '' Trésorier de France'' for the tax region of the

Dauphiné The Dauphiné ( , , ; or ; or ), formerly known in English as Dauphiny, is a former province in southeastern France, whose area roughly corresponded to that of the present departments of Isère, Drôme and Hautes-Alpes. The Dauphiné was ...

, which gave him a title in the

French nobility The French nobility () was an Aristocracy, aristocratic social class in France from the France in the Middle Ages, Middle Ages until its abolition on 23 June 1790 during the French Revolution. From 1808 to 1815 during the First French Empire, ...

, for 200,000 '' livres''. In 1789, he was one of the founders of the Grenoble patriotic society, which in December of that year published the first edition of ''La Vedette des Alpes''. In 1790, Amar was elected vice-president of the Grenoble directory, and became a deputy to 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 ...

for the '' département'' of

Isère Isère ( , ; ; , ) is a landlocked Departments of France, department in the southeastern French Regions of France, region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Named after the river Isère (river), Isère, it had a population of 1,271,166 in 2019.

, and joined The Mountain, voting in favor of

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- ...

execution Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in ...

during his trial.

Prominence

Sent on mission with to Ain and

in early 1793, he oversaw the '' levée en masse'' of 300,000 soldiers brought about by the outbreak of the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars () were a series of sweeping military conflicts resulting from the French Revolution that lasted from 1792 until 1802. They pitted French First Republic, France against Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain, Habsb ...

and he made widespread arrests of "counter-revolutionaries". After the ousting of the Girondists from the Convention in late May and early June 1793, Amar joined the

Committee of General Security The Committee of General Security () was a parliamentary committee of the French National Convention which acted as police agency during the French Revolution. Established as a committee of the Convention in October 1792, it was designed to protec ...

on September 13. He was, with Marc-Guillaume Alexis Vadier, one of its most influential members. He was noted for his attacks on the Girondists and his order in October 1793 to arrest the 46 deputies who had protested against the violence of The Mountain. He also argued against women's rights by stating women "are hardly capable of lofty conceptions and serious cogitation". In doing so he kept them from gaining political rights.

Liquidation Scandal

In November 1793 the Convention charged him, together with Fabre D'Eglantine, with investigating the Liquidation Scandal. Amar's investigations uncovered the fact that Fabre himself had been deeply involved in the fraud. The arrest of Fabre on January 13, 1794, helped precipitate the power struggle between his ally Danton and Robespierre. On March 16 Amar presented his report on the Liquidation Scandal to the convention, and on March 31 Amar was one of the Committee Members who signed the decree for the arrest of Danton. However, Robespierre was sharply critical of Amar's report, which presented the scandal as purely a matter of fraud. Robespierre insisted that it was a foreign plot, demanded that the report be re-written, and used the scandal as the basis for rhetorical attacks on the foreign powers he believed were involved. On July 23, 1794, Robespierre attacked Amar by name at a joint session of the Committees for his handling of the Liquidation Scandal. Amar was involved in the Thermidorian Reaction from its very beginning.

Later life

Arrested himself as a former partisan of Terror (April 2, 1795), he benefitted from an amnesty on October 26. Amar then opposed the establishment of 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 ...

in November, and in February 1796 he presented a petition from 'Patriots of '89' urging the re-establishment of price controls on basic foods. The Directory refused to consider it. He took part in 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 ...

of Gracchus Babeuf early in 1796; tried by the Court in Vendôme, he was

acquitted In common law jurisdictions, an acquittal means that the criminal prosecution has failed to prove that the accused is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the charge presented. It certifies that the accused is free from the charge of an o ...

on May 26. He retired from public life, and lived most of his remaining years in Isère and

Savoie Savoie (; Arpitan: ''Savouè'' or ''Savouè-d'Avâl''; English: ''Savoy'' ) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Southeastern France. Located in the French Alps, its prefecture is Chambéry. In 2019, Savoie had a population o ...

, discovering devotional

mysticism Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute (philosophy), Absolute, but may refer to any kind of Religious ecstasy, ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or Spirituality, spiritual meani ...

based on the works of

Emanuel Swedenborg Emanuel Swedenborg (; ; born Emanuel Swedberg; (29 January 168829 March 1772) was a Swedish polymath; scientist, engineer, astronomer, anatomist, Christian theologian, philosopher, and mysticism, mystic. He became best known for his book on the ...

. When the Bourbon dynasty returned to power, he was not banished like other members of the ConventionChronicle of the French Revolution p.663 Longman Group 1989 He died in

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 ...

Notes

Sources

* Albert Soboul, ''Dictionnaire historique de la Révolution française,'' PUF 1989. * Jean Tulard, Jean-François Fayard et Alfred Fierro, ''Histoire et dictionnaire de la Révolution française. 1789–1799,'' éd. Robert Laffont, coll. « Bouquins », Paris, 1987, 1998 étail de l’édition* ''Archives parlementaires de 1787 à 1860: recueil complet des débats législatifs et politiques des Chambres françaises''. First series, 1787 à 1799. Tomes LV, LVI, LVII, LX, LXI, LXII, LXV, LXVI, LXIX, LXX et LXXI. * ''Documents historiques sur les origines de la Révolution dauphinoise de 1788'' Grenoble, 1888, p. 76–90 for relation to Freemasony.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Amar, Jean-Pierre-Andre 1755 births 1816 deaths Politicians from Grenoble French untitled nobility Montagnards Presidents of the National Convention Deputies to the French National Convention Regicides of Louis XVI Members of Parliament for Isère French Freemasons People of the Reign of Terror People involved in the Conspiracy of the Equals 18th-century French lawyers