René Levasseur, (27 May 1747 – 17 September 1834) was a French surgeon and politician, who was a Montagnard deputy in 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 ...

during the

First French Republic In the history of France, the First Republic (), sometimes referred to in historiography as Revolutionary France, and officially the French Republic (), was founded on 21 September 1792 during the French Revolution. The First Republic lasted u ...

Early life

Levasseur was a surgeon and man-midwife under the

Ancien Régime ''Ancien'' may refer to * the French word for " ancient, old" ** Société des anciens textes français * the French for "former, senior" ** Virelai ancien ** Ancien Régime ** Ancien Régime in France {{disambig ...

. He was disinherited by one of his uncles for his political radicalism.

National Convention

After the French Revolution, Levasseur served on the municipal government of Le Mans in 1790 and the district government in 1791. In the 1792 election to the new

he won a seat representing the département of

Sarthe Sarthe () is a department of the French region of Pays de la Loire, and the province of Maine, situated in the '' Grand-Ouest'' of the country. It is named after the river Sarthe, which flows from east of Le Mans to just north of Angers. It ha ...

. At the 1793

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 ...

, Levasseur voted in favour of his execution. He supported the creation of the

Revolutionary Tribunal The Revolutionary Tribunal (; unofficially Popular Tribunal) was a court instituted by the National Convention during the French Revolution for the trial of political offenders. In October 1793, it became one of the most powerful engines of ...

and was among the fiercest opponents of

Modérantisme During the French Revolution, modérantisme () or the faction des modérés (faction of the moderates) was the name the Montagnards gave to their relatively more moderate opponents, first the Girondins and then the Dantonists. Modérantisme was ...

, especially in the insurrection of 31 May – 2 June 1793, supporting the arrest of all

Girondins 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 ...

. He served in the

Army of the North The Army of the North (), contemporaneously called Army of Peru (), was one of the armies deployed by the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata in the Spanish American wars of independence. Its objective was freeing the Argentine Northwest a ...

and his horse was shot from under him at the

Battle of Hondschoote The Battle of Hondschoote took place during the Low Countries theatre of the War of the First Coalition, Flanders Campaign of the Campaigns of 1793 in the French Revolutionary Wars, Campaign of 1793 in the French Revolutionary Wars. It was foug ...

. He was tasked with restoring order in

Beauvais Beauvais ( , ; ) is a town and Communes of France, commune in northern France, and prefecture of the Oise Departments of France, département, in the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, north of Paris. The Communes of France, commune o ...

and

Oise Oise ( ; ; ) is a department in the north of France. It is named after the river Oise. Inhabitants of the department are called ''Oisiens'' () or ''Isariens'', after the Latin name for the river, Isara. It had a population of 829,419 in 2019.< ...

, but was considered too moderate and André Dumont was sent to assist him.

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 ...

replaced him in November 1793 when disturbances erupted in

Gonesse Gonesse () is a commune in the Val-d'Oise department, in the north-eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. The commune lies approximately eight kilometres (five miles) north of Le Bourget Airport, and it is ...

. Levasseur voted for the

Law of 4 February 1794 The Law of 4 February 1794 was a decree of the French First Republic's National Convention which abolished Slavery in France, slavery in the French colonial empire. Background During the early modern period, France began French colonization of ...

, which abolished slavery in France. In 1794 he opposed the

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 ...

ists and was sent to restore order in the département of

Ardennes The Ardennes ( ; ; ; ; ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, extending into Germany and France. Geological ...

. He returned to Paris after the

Fall of Robespierre Maximilien Robespierre addressed the National Convention on 26 July 1794, was arrested the next day, and executed on 28 July. In his speech on 26 July, Robespierre spoke of the existence of internal enemies, conspirators, and calumniators, with ...

, opposed the

Thermidorean 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 ...

, and took part in the

insurrection of 12 Germinal, Year III Rebellion is an uprising that resists and is organized against one's government. A rebel is a person who engages in a rebellion. A rebel group is a consciously coordinated group that seeks to gain political control over an entire state or a ...

, for which the Convention imprisoned him until the amnesty at its dissolution in 1795.

Later life

Levasseur returned to practising as a surgeon during the Directory,

Consulate A consulate is the office of a consul. A type of mission, it is usually subordinate to the state's main representation in the capital of that foreign country (host state), usually an embassy (or, only between two Commonwealth countries, a ...

and

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 ...

(1795–1814). He went into exile during 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 ...

, returning to France for 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 ...

(1815) and again after the

July Revolution The French Revolution of 1830, also known as the July Revolution (), Second French Revolution, or ("Three Glorious ays), was a second French Revolution after French Revolution, the first of 1789–99. It led to the overthrow of King Cha ...

of 1830. He died in Le Mans. Four volumes of memoirs were published under his name (1829–1831) which were prosecuted for offending the monarchy and religion. At the trial, Achille Roche, putative editor of the memoirs, was regarded as the author.

Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

read the memoirs for a planned history of the convention.

Legacy

Levasseur is commemorated in Le Mans by boulevard René Levasseur, and an obelisk in the main cemetery visited in 1943 by

Ernst Jünger Ernst Jünger (; 29 March 1895 – 17 February 1998) was a German author, highly decorated soldier, philosopher, and entomology, entomologist who became publicly known for his World War I memoir ''Storm of Steel''. The son of a successful busin ...

. A bronze statue erected in 1911 was melted down in World War Two to reuse the metal. Sarthe departmental archives marked the 220th anniversary of the abolition of slavery with an exhibition on Levasseur.

Bibliography

* ''Dissertation sur la Symphyséotomie et sur l’enclavement'', Bruxelles, 1822
''Mémoires de R. Levasseur, (de la Sarthe) ex-conventionnel''. Tome premierTome deuxièmeTome troisième
Paris: A Levavasseur, 1829-1834

References

Citations

Sources

;Primary: * . * . * . * . ;Secondary: * . {{DEFAULTSORT:Levasseur, Rene Deputies to the French National Convention 1747 births 1834 deaths People from Le Mans French surgeons 18th-century surgeons Regicides of Louis XVI