Michel-Louis-Étienne Regnaud De Saint-Jean D'Angély
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Michel Louis Etienne Regnaud, later 1st Count Regnaud de Saint-Jean d'Angély (3 December 1761, Saint-Fargeau – 11 March 1819,
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 ...
) was a French politician.


Biography


Early activities

He was 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 ...
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 ...
and
lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...
of the maritime provostship of Rochefort. With the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789, he was elected deputy to the Estates-General by the Third Estate in the '' sénéchaussée'' of
Saint-Jean-d'Angély Saint-Jean-d'Angély (; Saintongeais dialect, Saintongeais: ''Sént-Jhan-d'Anjhéli'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Charente-Maritime Departments of France, department in southwestern France. The commune has its historical origins i ...
. His eloquence made him a prominent figure in the National Constituent Assembly, where he boldly attacked
Honoré Mirabeau Honoré is a name of French origin and may refer to several people or places: Given name Sovereigns of Monaco Lords of Monaco *Honoré I, Lord of Monaco, Honoré I of Monaco Princes of Monaco *Honoré II, Prince of Monaco, Honoré II of Monaco ...
, and settled the dispute about the ashes of
Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778), known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' Voltaire (, ; ), was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, philosopher (''philosophe''), satirist, and historian. Famous for his wit ...
by decreeing that they belonged to the nation.


Conflict with radicals

The moderation shown by the measures he proposed at the time of King
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- ...
's
flight to Varennes The Flight to Varennes (French: fuite de Varennes) during the night of 20–21 June 1791 was a significant event in the French Revolution in which the French royal family—comprising Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, the Dauphin Louis Charles, ...
, by his refusal to accede to the demands for the king's
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 ...
, and by the articles he published in the '' Journal de Paris'' and the ''Ami des Patriotes'', marked him out for the hostility of the radical parties. He was arrested after the revolution of 10 August, but succeeded in escaping, and during the
Thermidorian Reaction In the historiography of the French Revolution, the Thermidorian Reaction ( or ''Convention thermidorienne'', "Thermidorian Convention") is the common term for the period between the ousting of Maximilien Robespierre on 9 Thermidor II, or 27 J ...
which followed the fall 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 ...
, Regnaud de Saint-Jean d'Angély was appointed administrator of the military hospitals in Paris. His powers of organization brought him to
Napoleon 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 ...
's notice. He accompanied Napoleon during the French invasion of Malta in June 1798, but he became sick and did not participate in the subsequent campaign in Egypt. Regnaud was appointed Commissioner of Government of French-occupied Malta and he was the editor of the propaganda newspaper '' Journal de Malte'' before returning to France in November 1798. The following year, he took part in the 18 Brumaire Coup (9 November 1799).


Empire and later life

Under the
Empire An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...
, he enjoyed the confidence of Napoleon Bonaparte, and was made councillor of state, president of election in the ''
Conseil d'État In France, the (; Council of State) is a governmental body that acts both as legal adviser to the executive branch and as the supreme court for administrative justice, which is one of the two branches of the French judiciary system. Establ ...
'', member of the
Académie Française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...
, ''procureur général'' of the high court, and was created Count Regnaud de Saint-Jean d'Angély in 1808. He was dismissed on the first Bourbon Restoration, but resumed his posts during the
Hundred Days The Hundred Days ( ), also known as the War of the Seventh Coalition (), marked the period between Napoleon's return from eleven months of exile on the island of Elba to Paris on20 March 1815 and the second restoration of King Louis XVIII o ...
, and, after the
battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (then in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium), marking the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The French Imperial Army (1804–1815), Frenc ...
, persuaded the Emperor Napoleon to abdicate. He was exiled by the government of the Second Restoration, but subsequently obtained leave to return to France. He died on the day of his return to Paris. His supposed
memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based on the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autob ...
s, ''Les Souvenirs du Comte Regnault de St Jean d'Angély'' (Paris, 1817), are spurious.


Family

Regnaud had married in 1795 Laure Guesnon de Bonneuil, the daughter of a former Maître d'Hôtel of the
Count of Artois The count of Artois (, ) was the ruler over the County of Artois from the 9th century until the abolition of the countship by the French Revolution, French revolutionaries in 1790. House of Artois *Odalric () *Altmar () *Adelelm (?–932) *''C ...
. They had no children, but his natural son Auguste Regnaud de Saint-Jean d'Angély became
Marshal of France Marshal of France (, plural ') is a French military distinction, rather than a military rank, that is awarded to General officer, generals for exceptional achievements. The title has been awarded since 1185, though briefly abolished (1793–1804) ...
.


Notes


References

;Attribution * {{DEFAULTSORT:Regnaud De Saint-Jean Dangely, Michel-Louis-Etienne 1761 births 1819 deaths People from Yonne Counts of the First French Empire Bonapartists Government ministers of France Members of the National Constituent Assembly (France) Members of the Chamber of Representatives (France) Members of Parliament for Charente-Maritime Newspaper editors of the French Revolution 18th-century French lawyers French occupation of Malta Expelled members of the Académie Française Commission des Sciences et des Arts members Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery