Antoine-François Momoro
Encyclopedia
Antoine-François Momoro (1756, Besançon
24 March 1794, Paris) was a French printer, bookseller and politician during the French Revolution
. An important figure in the Cordeliers
club and in Hébertisme, he is the originator of the phrase Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité
, the motto of the French Republic
.
region of eastern France. Antoine-François Momoro studied in his home town and moved to Paris while still very young. He showed a particular talent as a typographer and he was admitted to the Parisian printers' guild in 1787. He was one of many publishers in the French capital, but he established his credentials quickly by issuing his own highly-regarded printer's manual, Traité élémentaire de l’imprimerie, ou le manuel de l’imprimeur (1787). The outbreak of the Revolution and the declaration of the freedom of the press
in August, 1789, massively boosted his output and would change his destiny.
An open opponent of even a constitutional monarchy and of the Roman Catholic religion, Momoro keenly threw himself into the revolutionary cause and put his abilities at the service of the new ideas. At the start of the Revolution he bought up several presses, opened a press at 171 rue de la Harpe
and launched himself into politics. His initial output remained cautious however, as shown by his refusal in June, 1789, to be the first publisher of La France Libre by Camille Desmoulins
. He won the exclusive concession to typography and printing from the Paris Commune
and became secretary to the Société des droits de l’homme, which later became the Club des Cordeliers
, whose journal he published as well as becoming one of its loudest orators.
Momoro was also among the signatories of the anti-monarchical petition which led to the Champ de Mars massacre
, an event that would end in formalizing the split between the moderates and extremists. In the wake of this affair, which led to his imprisonment until September, 1791, Momoro resumed his printing activities under his self-given title of "first printer of the national liberty", publishing Jacques-René Hébert's radical newspaper, Le Père Duchesne
.
A member of the section du Théâtre-Français, in June 1792 he, Danton and Chaumette
wrote and signed a declaration which suppressed the distinction between passive and active citizens in the section. He then took an active part in the insurrection
of August 10, 1792. He more and more supported the enragés more than the more moderate indulgents. He was elected by the section to the Directoire du département de Paris
and it was then that he and mayor Pache
inscribed the motto Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité on the façades of all public buildings. After a recruiting mission in Calvados and Eure, he returned to Paris where he was made president of the section du Théâtre-Français.
He took an active part in dechristianisation
and was a was a principal proponent of the Cult of Reason
. It was his wife, Sophie Momoro (née Fournier), who played the part of the Goddess
at the cult's infamous "Festival of Reason" on 20 Brumaire, Year II (November 10, 1793).
He was sent into the Vendée
in May, 1793, where he acted as deputy to Charles-Philippe Ronsin
at the siege of the état-major at Saumur
, in a mission to ensure the army fighting against the revolt there was well supplied. On his return to Paris, in a long Rapport sur la politique de la Vendée fait au comité de Salut Public, he explained the reasons for setbacks to Ronsin's strategy in the Vendée and defended General Rossignol
, contributing to his rehabilitation.
When Marat
was assassinated in July, 1793, Momoro aspired to succeed him as champion of the people and their cause. He persuaded the Cordeliers to go ahead with the publication of the L'Ami du Peuple
at his press.
), and the Committee of Public Safety
. Pushed onwards by a report by Saint-Just to the Convention denouncing the "complot de l’étranger" woven by the Indulgents and Exagérés, the committee decided on the arrest of the Hébertistes on March 13, 1794. The revolutionary tribunal condemned Momoro to death, and he loudly replied "You accuse me, who have given everything for the Revolution!" He was guillotine
d with Hébert, Ronsin
, Vincent
and other leading Hébertistes the following afternoon, 4 Germinal, Year II (March 24, 1794).
Besançon
Besançon , is the capital and principal city of the Franche-Comté region in eastern France. It had a population of about 237,000 inhabitants in the metropolitan area in 2008...
24 March 1794, Paris) was a French printer, bookseller and politician during the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
. An important figure in the Cordeliers
Cordeliers
The Cordeliers, also known as the Club of the Cordeliers, Cordeliers Club, or Club des Cordeliers and formally as the Society of the Friends of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen , was a populist club during the French Revolution.-History:The club had its origins in the Cordeliers district, a...
club and in Hébertisme, he is the originator of the phrase Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité
Liberté, égalité, fraternité
Liberté, égalité, fraternité, French for "Liberty, equality, fraternity ", is the national motto of France, and is a typical example of a tripartite motto. Although it finds its origins in the French Revolution, it was then only one motto among others and was not institutionalized until the Third...
, the motto of the French Republic
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
Life
"First Printer of Liberty"
Momoro's family was originally from Spain but settled in the Franche-ComtéFranche-Comté
Franche-Comté the former "Free County" of Burgundy, as distinct from the neighbouring Duchy, is an administrative region and a traditional province of eastern France...
region of eastern France. Antoine-François Momoro studied in his home town and moved to Paris while still very young. He showed a particular talent as a typographer and he was admitted to the Parisian printers' guild in 1787. He was one of many publishers in the French capital, but he established his credentials quickly by issuing his own highly-regarded printer's manual, Traité élémentaire de l’imprimerie, ou le manuel de l’imprimeur (1787). The outbreak of the Revolution and the declaration of the freedom of the press
Freedom of the press
Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the freedom of communication and expression through vehicles including various electronic media and published materials...
in August, 1789, massively boosted his output and would change his destiny.
An open opponent of even a constitutional monarchy and of the Roman Catholic religion, Momoro keenly threw himself into the revolutionary cause and put his abilities at the service of the new ideas. At the start of the Revolution he bought up several presses, opened a press at 171 rue de la Harpe
Rue de la Harpe, Paris
The rue de la Harpe is a street in Paris' Latin Quarter. Relatively calm and cobblestoned along much of its length, it runs in a south-easterly direction between the rue de la Huchette and the rue Saint-Séverin, where it turns south-west to where it ends at the boulevard Saint-Germain...
and launched himself into politics. His initial output remained cautious however, as shown by his refusal in June, 1789, to be the first publisher of La France Libre by Camille Desmoulins
Camille Desmoulins
Lucie Simplice Camille Benoît Desmoulins was a journalist and politician who played an important role in the French Revolution. He was a childhood friend of Maximilien Robespierre and a close friend and political ally of Georges Danton, who were influential figures in the French Revolution.-Early...
. He won the exclusive concession to typography and printing from the Paris Commune
Paris Commune (French Revolution)
The Paris Commune during the French Revolution was the government of Paris from 1789 until 1795. Established in the Hôtel de Ville just after the storming of the Bastille, the Commune became insurrectionary in the summer of 1792, essentially refusing to take orders from the central French...
and became secretary to the Société des droits de l’homme, which later became the Club des Cordeliers
Cordeliers
The Cordeliers, also known as the Club of the Cordeliers, Cordeliers Club, or Club des Cordeliers and formally as the Society of the Friends of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen , was a populist club during the French Revolution.-History:The club had its origins in the Cordeliers district, a...
, whose journal he published as well as becoming one of its loudest orators.
Momoro was also among the signatories of the anti-monarchical petition which led to the Champ de Mars massacre
Champ de Mars Massacre
During the French Revolution, on 17 July 1791, the Champ de Mars in Paris was the site of a massacre, the . On that day, the National Constituent Assembly issued a decree that the king, Louis XVI, would remain king under a constitutional monarchy...
, an event that would end in formalizing the split between the moderates and extremists. In the wake of this affair, which led to his imprisonment until September, 1791, Momoro resumed his printing activities under his self-given title of "first printer of the national liberty", publishing Jacques-René Hébert's radical newspaper, Le Père Duchesne
Le Père Duchesne
Le Père Duchesne was an extreme radical newspaper during the French Revolution, edited by Jacques Hébert, who published 385 issues from September 1790 until eleven days before his death by guillotine, which took place on March 24, 1794...
.
Radicalization
Pierre Gaspard Chaumette
Pierre Gaspard Chaumette was a French politician of the Revolutionaryperiod.-Early activities:Born in Nevers France, 24 May 1763, his main interest was botany and science. Chaumette studied medicine at the University of Paris in 1790, but gave up his career in medicine at the start of the Revolution...
wrote and signed a declaration which suppressed the distinction between passive and active citizens in the section. He then took an active part in the insurrection
Paris Commune (French Revolution)
The Paris Commune during the French Revolution was the government of Paris from 1789 until 1795. Established in the Hôtel de Ville just after the storming of the Bastille, the Commune became insurrectionary in the summer of 1792, essentially refusing to take orders from the central French...
of August 10, 1792. He more and more supported the enragés more than the more moderate indulgents. He was elected by the section to the Directoire du département de Paris
Paris Commune (French Revolution)
The Paris Commune during the French Revolution was the government of Paris from 1789 until 1795. Established in the Hôtel de Ville just after the storming of the Bastille, the Commune became insurrectionary in the summer of 1792, essentially refusing to take orders from the central French...
and it was then that he and mayor Pache
Jean-Nicolas Pache
Jean-Nicolas Pache was a French politician.-Biography:Pache was born in Verdun, but grew up in Paris, of Swiss parentage, the son of the concièrge of the hotel of Marshal de Castries...
inscribed the motto Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité on the façades of all public buildings. After a recruiting mission in Calvados and Eure, he returned to Paris where he was made president of the section du Théâtre-Français.
He took an active part in dechristianisation
Dechristianisation of France during the French Revolution
The dechristianisation of France during the French Revolution is a conventional description of the results of a number of separate policies, conducted by various governments of France between the start of the French Revolution in 1789 and the Concordat of 1801, forming the basis of the later and...
and was a was a principal proponent of the Cult of Reason
Cult of Reason
The Cult of Reason was an atheistic belief system established in France and intended as a replacement for Christianity during the French Revolution.-Origins:...
. It was his wife, Sophie Momoro (née Fournier), who played the part of the Goddess
Goddess of Reason
During the French Revolution, on 10 November 1793, a Goddess of Reason was proclaimed by the French Convention at the suggestion of Chaumette. As personification for the goddess, Sophie Momoro, wife of the printer Antoine-François Momoro, was chosen...
at the cult's infamous "Festival of Reason" on 20 Brumaire, Year II (November 10, 1793).
He was sent into the Vendée
Vendée
The Vendée is a department in the Pays-de-la-Loire region in west central France, on the Atlantic Ocean. The name Vendée is taken from the Vendée river which runs through the south-eastern part of the department.-History:...
in May, 1793, where he acted as deputy to Charles-Philippe Ronsin
Charles-Philippe Ronsin
Charles-Philippe Ronsin was a French general of the Revolutionary Army of the First French Republic, commanding the large Parisian division of l'Armée Révolutionnaire...
at the siege of the état-major at Saumur
Saumur
Saumur is a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France.The historic town is located between the Loire and Thouet rivers, and is surrounded by the vineyards of Saumur itself, Chinon, Bourgueil, Coteaux du Layon, etc...
, in a mission to ensure the army fighting against the revolt there was well supplied. On his return to Paris, in a long Rapport sur la politique de la Vendée fait au comité de Salut Public, he explained the reasons for setbacks to Ronsin's strategy in the Vendée and defended General Rossignol
Jean Antoine Rossignol
Jean Antoine Rossignol, was a general of the French Revolutionary Wars-Early life:...
, contributing to his rehabilitation.
When Marat
Jean-Paul Marat
Jean-Paul Marat , born in the Principality of Neuchâtel, was a physician, political theorist, and scientist best known for his career in France as a radical journalist and politician during the French Revolution...
was assassinated in July, 1793, Momoro aspired to succeed him as champion of the people and their cause. He persuaded the Cordeliers to go ahead with the publication of the L'Ami du Peuple
L'Ami du peuple
L'Ami du peuple was a newspaper written by Jean-Paul Marat during the French Revolution. “The most celebrated radical paper of the Revolution”, according to historian Jeremy D...
at his press.
Fall
After working for the fall of the Girondists in the struggle between the Commune and the Convention, he participated in attacks on Danton, Robespierre (who he accused of modérantismeModérantisme
During the French Revolution, modérantisme or the faction des modérés was the name given to the Girondists and then to the Dantonistes by the Montagnards...
), and the Committee of Public Safety
Committee of Public Safety
The Committee of Public Safety , created in April 1793 by the National Convention and then restructured in July 1793, formed the de facto executive government in France during the Reign of Terror , a stage of the French Revolution...
. Pushed onwards by a report by Saint-Just to the Convention denouncing the "complot de l’étranger" woven by the Indulgents and Exagérés, the committee decided on the arrest of the Hébertistes on March 13, 1794. The revolutionary tribunal condemned Momoro to death, and he loudly replied "You accuse me, who have given everything for the Revolution!" He was guillotine
Guillotine
The guillotine is a device used for carrying out :executions by decapitation. It consists of a tall upright frame from which an angled blade is suspended. This blade is raised with a rope and then allowed to drop, severing the head from the body...
d with Hébert, Ronsin
Charles-Philippe Ronsin
Charles-Philippe Ronsin was a French general of the Revolutionary Army of the First French Republic, commanding the large Parisian division of l'Armée Révolutionnaire...
, Vincent
François-Nicolas Vincent
François-Nicolas Vincent was the Secretary General of the War Ministry in the First French Republic, and a significant figure in the French Revolution...
and other leading Hébertistes the following afternoon, 4 Germinal, Year II (March 24, 1794).