Louis-Michel le Peletier, Marquis of Saint-Fargeau (; sometimes spelled Lepeletier; 29 May 176020 January 1793) was a French politician, nobleman,
Freemason
Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...
and martyr of the
French Revolution.
Career
Born in Paris, he belonged to a well-known family, his great-grandfather,
Michel Robert Le Peletier des Forts, count of
Saint-Fargeau, having been
Controller-General of Finances
The Controller-General or Comptroller-General of Finances () was the name of the minister in charge of finances in France from 1661 to 1791. It replaced the former position of Superintendent of Finances (''Surintendant des finances''), which was ab ...
.
After the death of his title-holding family, Le Peletier gained a vast amount of wealth.
Le Peletier entered into politics by becoming a lawyer ("avocat") in the employ of the
Place du Châtelet, a prison. In 1785 he was advanced to avocat-general. In 1789 he was elected to the
Parlement of Paris
The ''Parlement'' of Paris () was the oldest ''parlement'' in the Kingdom of France, formed in the 14th century. Parlements were judicial, rather than legislative, bodies and were composed of magistrates. Though not representative bodies in the p ...
, and in that same year he became a deputy of the nobility to the
States-General.
Initially, he shared the
conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
views of the majority of his class, but by degrees his ideas changed and became increasingly radical. On 13 July 1789 he demanded the recall of
Necker, whose dismissal by the king had aroused great excitement in Paris. In the
Constituent Assembly
A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...
he moved the abolition of the
death penalty
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 s ...
, of the
galley
A galley is a type of ship optimised for propulsion by oars. Galleys were historically used for naval warfare, warfare, Maritime transport, trade, and piracy mostly in the seas surrounding Europe. It developed in the Mediterranean world during ...
s and of
branding
Branding may refer to:
Physical markings
* Making a mark, typically by charring:
** Wood branding, permanently marking, by way of heat, typically of wood (also applied to plastic, cork, leather, etc.)
** Livestock branding, the marking of animals ...
, and the substitution of
beheading for
hanging
Hanging is killing a person by suspending them from the neck with a noose or ligature strangulation, ligature. Hanging has been a standard method of capital punishment since the Middle Ages, and has been the primary execution method in numerou ...
. This attitude won him great popularity, and on 21 June 1790 he was made
president of the Constituent Assembly.
He remained in this position until 5 July 1790.
During the existence of the
Legislative Assembly, he was elected President of the General Council for the
Yonne
Yonne (, in Burgundian: ''Ghienne'') is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in France. It is named after the river Yonne, which flows through it, in the country's north-central part. One of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté's eight con ...
''
département
In the administrative divisions of France, the department (, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. There are a total of 101 ...
'' in 1791. He was then elected by this ''département'' to become 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 ...
. Here he was in favor of 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 ...
by the Assembly and was one of the deciding votes for the death of the king.
Educational Reform
While in the Convention, Le Peletier focused mainly on revolutionary reform of education, promoting a Spartan education. It called for both males and females to be taught in state-run schools and taught revolutionary ideas instead of the customary history, science, mathematics, language and religion. His educational plan was supported by
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 fer ...
and his ideas were borrowed in later schemes, notably by
Jules Ferry
Jules François Camille Ferry (; 5 April 183217 March 1893) was a French statesman and republican philosopher. He was one of the leaders of the Opportunist Republicans, Moderate Republicans and served as Prime Minister of France from 1880 to 18 ...
.
Death and later honors
On 20 January 1793, the eve of the king's execution, Le Peletier was assassinated in a restaurant in the
Palais Royal.
His murderer, Philippe Nicolas Marie de Pâris, a member of the
Garde du Corps, entered the restaurant, approached Le Peletier, and said "You voted for the King's death, Monsieur Le Peletier?" Le Peletier replied, saying "I voted according to my conscience. What has that to do with you?" Pâris proceeded to plunge a saber that he had hidden under his cloak into Le Peletier's chest. Pâris was able to leave the restaurant with no resistance from its patrons. Pâris fled to
Normandy
Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy.
Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...
, where, on the point of being discovered, he supposedly shot himself in the head.
Other sources claim the real murderer fled to England where he died years later.
The Convention honored Louis Michel Le Peletier with a magnificent funeral.
His body was displayed in the
Place Vendôme
The Place Vendôme (), earlier known as the Place Louis-le-Grand, and also as the Place Internationale, is a square in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France, located to the north of the Tuileries Gardens and east of the Église de la Madelein ...
beneath the statue of King
Louis XIV
LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...
. Le Peletier was buried in the
Panthéon
The Panthéon (, ), is a monument in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, France. It stands in the Latin Quarter, Paris, Latin Quarter (Quartier latin), atop the , in the centre of the , which was named after it. The edifice was built between 1758 ...
in Paris in 1793. His body was removed by his family on 14 February 1795.
Just a month after the assassination, on 23 February 1793, the
Opéra-Comique
The Opéra-Comique () is a Paris opera company which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular Théâtre de la foire, theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with – and for a time took the name of – its chief riva ...
presented the first of four performances of a musical treatment of his life and death called ''Le Peletier de Saint-Fargeau, ou Le premier martyr de la République française'', with a libretto by
Auguste-Louis Bertin d'Antilly and music by
Frédéric Blasius.
[ Nicole Wild and David Charlton, ''Théâtre de l'Opéra-Comique Paris: répertoire 1762–1972'' (Sprimont, Belgium: Editions Mardaga, 2005), 55, 301, 489]
The station
Saint-Fargeau of the
Paris Métro
The Paris Métro (, , or , ), short for Métropolitain (), is a rapid transit system serving the Paris metropolitan area in France. A symbol of the city, it is known for its density within the capital's territorial limits, uniform architectur ...
is named for him.
A Sèvres biscuit porcelain bust of Louis Michel Le Peletier is on display in the
Château de Vizille
The Château de Vizille is a castle in the French town of Vizille near Grenoble. It is one of the most prestigious and important castles of the Dauphiné Region. Traditionally, from the 14th century, the Dauphiné was the homeland of the inherit ...
, Isère.
On 30 September 1793 the French Navy's ship ''
Séduisant'', one of two newly commissioned ships, with 74 guns, over 56 meters in length and 1550 tons in weight, was renamed ''Peletier''. On 30 May 1795, the ship reverted to her original name ''Séduisant''.
Painting by David

The painter
Jacques-Louis David
Jacques-Louis David (; 30 August 1748 – 29 December 1825) was a French painter in the Neoclassicism, Neoclassical style, considered to be the preeminent painter of the era. In the 1780s, his cerebral brand of history painting marked a change in ...
represented his death in a famous painting, ''
Les Derniers moments de Michel Lepeletier'' or ''Lepelletier de Saint-Fargeau sur son lit de mort''. David described his painting of Le Peletier's face as "Serene, that is because when one dies for one's country, one has nothing with which to reproach oneself." This painting, known only through a drawing made by a pupil of David, is considered by scholars the first official painting of the French Revolution, a rehearsal for David's later achievement ''
The Death of Marat
''The Death of Marat'' ( or ''Marat Assassiné'') is a 1793 painting by Jacques-Louis David depicting the artist's friend and murdered French revolutionary leader, Jean-Paul Marat. One of the most famous images from the era of the French Revolut ...
''.
Family
Le Peletier had a brother, Felix (1769–1837), well known for his advanced ideas,
and a brother
Amédée Louis Michel le Peletier, comte de Saint-Fargeau
Amédée Louis Michel le Peletier, comte de Saint-Fargeau (9 October 1770 – 23 August 1845), also spelled Lepeletier or Lepelletier, was a French people, French Entomology, entomologist, and specialist in the Hymenoptera.
In 1833, he served as ...
(1770–1845), a noted
entomologist
Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...
. The writer and academician
Jean d'Ormesson was descended from his daughter
Suzanne le Peletier de Saint-Fargeau and her descendants owned the famous
Château de Saint-Fargeau until 1960s.
In popular culture
Le Peletier appears as an antagonist in ''
Assassin's Creed Unity
''Assassin's Creed Unity'' is a 2014 action-adventure game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. It was released in November 2014 for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One, and in December 2020 for Stadia. It is the eighth majo ...
'', where he is depicted as a secret member of the
Templar Order under Grand Master
Francois-Thomas Germain who believes that he is doing what is right for
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 ...
before what is right for the Templars. He is assassinated by the protagonist Arno Dorian in the Palais-Royale after he votes to have the king executed.
Citations
General sources
* Andress, David, ''The Terror: The Merciless War for Freedom in Revolutionary France'', New York, Straus and Giroux, 2005
* Déy, M., ''Histoire de la Ville et du Comté de Saint-Fargeau'', Auxerre, 1856
* Hazeltine, Mayo Williamson, ''French Revolution: A Study of Democracy'', London, Kessinger Publishing, 2003
* Herissay, Jacques, ''L'assassinat de Le Pelletier de Saint-Fargeau'', Paris, Ed.
Emile-Paul Frères, 1934
* Le Blant, Edmond, ''Lepeletier de Saint-Fargeau et son meurtrier'', Paris, Douniol, 1874
* Lewis, Gwynne, ''The French Revolution Rethinking Debate'', N.P. Routledge, 1993
* Martucci, Roberto,'' En attendant Le Peletier de Saint-Fargeau'' in ''Annales historiques de la Révolution française'', 2002, n°2, pp. 77–104
* Stephens, Henry Moore, ''The Principle Speeches of the Statesmen and Orators of the French Revolution 1789–1795'', Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1892
*
Luc-Normand Tellier, ''Face aux Colbert : les Le Tellier, Vauban, Turgot ... et l'avènement du libéralisme'', Presses de l'Université du Québec, 1987, 816 pages.
Etexte
* About David's painting:
**
Baticle, Jeannine, ''La seconde mort de Lepeletier de Saint-Fargeau. Recherches sur le sort du tableau de David'' in ''Bulletin de la Société Française d'Histoire de l'Art'', 1988, Paris, 1989, pp. 131–145
** Simon, Robert, ''David's Martyr-Portrait of Le Peletier de Saint-Fargeau and the conundrums of Revolutionary Representation'' in ''Art History'', vol.14, n°4, December 1991, pp. 459–487
** Vanden Berghe Marc & Plesca, Ioana, ''Lepelletier de Saint-Fargeau sur son lit de mort par Jacques-Louis David : saint Sébastien révolutionnaire, miroir multiréférencé de Rome'', Brussels, 2005 – online on www.art-chitecture.net/publications.ph
External links
www.repeinture.com dedicated to the repainting & study of the missing picture by David, project in process
{{DEFAULTSORT:Le Peletier De Saint-Fargeau, Louis Michel
1760 births
1793 deaths
Assassinated French politicians
Burials at the Panthéon, Paris
Deputies to the French National Convention
People murdered in Paris
People of the French Revolution
French Freemasons
Politicians from Paris
Regicides of Louis XVI
Politicians assassinated in the 18th century