Jean-Marie Claude Alexandre Goujon
Encyclopedia
Jean Marie Claude Alexandre Goujon (April 13, 1766 Bourg-en-Bresse
- June 17, 1795 Paris
) was a politician of the French Revolution
. He was the brother-in-law of Pierre François Tissot
.
, his grandfather, Claude Goujon, was Director of meeting in Dijon, his father, Claude Alexandre Goujon, agriculture from Bourg-en-Bresse
. In this city, he married Joan Margaret Nicole Ricard, on February 9, 1762, daughter of Joseph Ricard, Barrister, First Secretary of the Stewardship of Burgundy (born 1745). In 1774 the family moved to Provins. Following a reversal of fortune of his father, he abandoned his studies, and left for Dieppe
and Saint-Malo
to join the Navy.
Enlisted twelve years as a seaman aboard the Diadême, he assisted the Saint-Esprit at the Battle of Ushant (1778)
against the English fleet. The next day he wrote to his father a letter read aloud in the garden of the Palais Royal
, under the tree of Krakow.
In 1790, he settled at Meudon
, near Paris
, and began to complete his education. As procureur-général-syndic
of the départment of Seine-et-Oise
, in August 1792, he had to ensure adequate supplies of food for the inhabitants.
After two years at a dealer in Saint-Malo, he earned a job as sub-inspector of artillery crews in Morlaix, before being employed in the offices of the navy at Brest, then in Saint-Malo. In 1783, seventeen years old, he moved to the Isle de France, where his uncle Ricard, future mayor of Port-Louis, has a trading house. Back in France the following year, in May 1790 he joined his parents in Rennes
, where his father is director of messaging and enters the offices of the Quartermaster of Britainny. In 1786, he became an attorney's clerk in Paris, where he befriended another young clerk, Pierre-François Tissot.
) promoted him, to the general public.
He was elected a director, then the day after the August 10, 1792, Attorney-General of the Department of Seine-et-Oise
. On 17 September he becomes sixth alternate deputy to the National Convention
by 410 votes of 657 voters.
In the National Convention
, which he entered on the death of Marie Jean Hérault de Séchelles, he affiliated with The Mountain
.
Engaged in the fight against high prices in the fall of 1792, he wrote and presented in November at the Convention an address to the assembly, for the taxation of grain prices, in which he shows that the liberal economic policy of the Assembly has important social consequences:
He conducted a mission to the Armies
of the Rhine and the Moselle
, showing himself to be quite moderate, and was a consistent advocate of peace within the Republic. Nevertheless, he was a determined opponent of other moderate and reactionary
forces, which he denounced in the Jacobin Club
and in The Mountain after his recall to Paris, following the outbreak of the Thermidorian Reaction
(July 27, 1794).
He was one of those who protested against the readmission of Jean-Baptiste Louvet de Couvrai
and other survivors of the Girondist
party to the Convention in March 1795; and, when the populace invaded the legislature on the 1 Prairial Year III (May 20, 1795) and compelled the deputies to legislate in accordance with their desires. He proposed the immediate establishment of a special commission to assure the execution of the proposed changes and assume the functions of the various committees.
, Jean-Michel Duroy, Adrien Duquesnoy
, Pierre Bourbotte, Pierre-Aimable de Soubrany, and others were put under arrest by their colleagues; and on their way to the château
of Taureau in Brittany
, he had a narrow escape from a mob at Avranches
.
They were brought back to Paris for trial before a military commission on June 17, and, although no proof of their complicity in organizing the insurrection could be found (they were, in fact, with the exception of Goujon and Bourbotte, strangers to one another) they were sentenced to death
. In accordance with a pre-arranged plan, they attempted suicide
on the staircase leading from the courtroom with a knife that Goujon had successfully concealed. Romme, Goujon and Duquesnoy succeeded, but the other three merely inflicted wounds, which did not prevent their being taken immediately to the guillotine
. With their deaths, The Mountain ceased to exist as a party.
Before his suicide, he said:
Bourg-en-Bresse
Bourg-en-Bresse is a commune in eastern France, capital of the Ain department, and was capital of the former province of Bresse . It is located north-northeast of Lyon.The inhabitants of Bourg-en-Bresse are known as Burgiens.-Geography:...
- June 17, 1795 Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
) was a politician of 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...
. He was the brother-in-law of Pierre François Tissot
Pierre François Tissot
Pierre François Tissot was a French man of letters and politician.-Early life:He was born in Versailles to a native of Savoy, who was a perfumer appointed by royal warrant to the court...
.
Early life
Born into a family of BresseBresse
Bresse is a former French province. It is located in the regions of Rhône-Alpes, Bourgogne, and Franche-Comté of eastern France. The geographical term Bresse has two meanings: Bresse bourguignonne , which is situated in the east of the department of Saône-et-Loire, and Bresse, which is located...
, his grandfather, Claude Goujon, was Director of meeting in Dijon, his father, Claude Alexandre Goujon, agriculture from Bourg-en-Bresse
Bourg-en-Bresse
Bourg-en-Bresse is a commune in eastern France, capital of the Ain department, and was capital of the former province of Bresse . It is located north-northeast of Lyon.The inhabitants of Bourg-en-Bresse are known as Burgiens.-Geography:...
. In this city, he married Joan Margaret Nicole Ricard, on February 9, 1762, daughter of Joseph Ricard, Barrister, First Secretary of the Stewardship of Burgundy (born 1745). In 1774 the family moved to Provins. Following a reversal of fortune of his father, he abandoned his studies, and left for Dieppe
Dieppe, Seine-Maritime
Dieppe is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in France. In 1999, the population of the whole Dieppe urban area was 81,419.A port on the English Channel, famous for its scallops, and with a regular ferry service from the Gare Maritime to Newhaven in England, Dieppe also has a popular pebbled...
and Saint-Malo
Saint-Malo
Saint-Malo is a walled port city in Brittany in northwestern France on the English Channel. It is a sub-prefecture of the Ille-et-Vilaine.-Demographics:The population can increase to up to 200,000 in the summer tourist season...
to join the Navy.
Enlisted twelve years as a seaman aboard the Diadême, he assisted the Saint-Esprit at the Battle of Ushant (1778)
Battle of Ushant (1778)
The Battle of Ushant took place on 27 July 1778, during the American War of Independence, fought between French and British fleets 100 miles west of Ushant, a French island at the mouth of the English Channel off the north-westernmost point of France...
against the English fleet. The next day he wrote to his father a letter read aloud in the garden of the Palais Royal
Palais Royal
The Palais-Royal, originally called the Palais-Cardinal, is a palace and an associated garden located in the 1st arrondissement of Paris...
, under the tree of Krakow.
In 1790, he settled at Meudon
Meudon
Meudon is a municipality in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is in the département of Hauts-de-Seine. It is located from the center of Paris.-Geography:...
, near Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, and began to complete his education. As procureur-général-syndic
Syndic
Syndic , a term applied in certain countries to an officer of government with varying powers, and secondly to a representative or delegate of a university, institution or other corporation, entrusted with special functions or powers.The meaning which underlies both applications is that of...
of the départment of Seine-et-Oise
Seine-et-Oise
Seine-et-Oise was a département of France encompassing the western, northern, and southern parts of the metropolitan area of Paris. Its préfecture was Versailles and its official number was 78. Seine-et-Oise was abolished in 1968....
, in August 1792, he had to ensure adequate supplies of food for the inhabitants.
After two years at a dealer in Saint-Malo, he earned a job as sub-inspector of artillery crews in Morlaix, before being employed in the offices of the navy at Brest, then in Saint-Malo. In 1783, seventeen years old, he moved to the Isle de France, where his uncle Ricard, future mayor of Port-Louis, has a trading house. Back in France the following year, in May 1790 he joined his parents in Rennes
Rennes
Rennes is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France. Rennes is the capital of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department.-History:...
, where his father is director of messaging and enters the offices of the Quartermaster of Britainny. In 1786, he became an attorney's clerk in Paris, where he befriended another young clerk, Pierre-François Tissot.
Convention
In 1791, his response to the letter of Raynal (where Encyclopedist violently attacked the work of the Constituent AssemblyConstituent assembly
A constituent assembly is a body composed for the purpose of drafting or adopting a constitution...
) promoted him, to the general public.
He was elected a director, then the day after the August 10, 1792, Attorney-General of the Department of Seine-et-Oise
Seine-et-Oise
Seine-et-Oise was a département of France encompassing the western, northern, and southern parts of the metropolitan area of Paris. Its préfecture was Versailles and its official number was 78. Seine-et-Oise was abolished in 1968....
. On 17 September he becomes sixth alternate deputy to the National Convention
National Convention
During the French Revolution, the National Convention or Convention, in France, comprised the constitutional and legislative assembly which sat from 20 September 1792 to 26 October 1795 . It held executive power in France during the first years of the French First Republic...
by 410 votes of 657 voters.
In the National Convention
National Convention
During the French Revolution, the National Convention or Convention, in France, comprised the constitutional and legislative assembly which sat from 20 September 1792 to 26 October 1795 . It held executive power in France during the first years of the French First Republic...
, which he entered on the death of Marie Jean Hérault de Séchelles, he affiliated with The Mountain
The Mountain
The Mountain refers in the context of the history of the French Revolution to a political group, whose members, called Montagnards, sat on the highest benches in the Assembly...
.
Engaged in the fight against high prices in the fall of 1792, he wrote and presented in November at the Convention an address to the assembly, for the taxation of grain prices, in which he shows that the liberal economic policy of the Assembly has important social consequences:
The unlimited freedom of the grain trade is incompatible with the existence of our Republic. And indeed, what comprises a Republic? From a small number of capitalists and a large number of poor (...) This class of capitalists and landlords, the unlimited freedom that makes mistress of grain prices, is also mistress of the establishment of the working day.He concludes by calling for the establishment of land reform, with the maximum farm size :fr:Loi du maximum of 120 acre (0.4856232 km²), and the creation of a central management of subsistence, whose members are elected by the people.
He conducted a mission to the Armies
French Revolutionary Army
The French Revolutionary Army is the term used to refer to the military of France during the period between the fall of the ancien regime under Louis XVI in 1792 and the formation of the First French Empire under Napoleon Bonaparte in 1804. These armies were characterised by their revolutionary...
of the Rhine and the Moselle
Moselle
Moselle is a department in the east of France named after the river Moselle.- History :Moselle is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
, showing himself to be quite moderate, and was a consistent advocate of peace within the Republic. Nevertheless, he was a determined opponent of other moderate and reactionary
Reactionary
The term reactionary refers to viewpoints that seek to return to a previous state in a society. The term is meant to describe one end of a political spectrum whose opposite pole is "radical". While it has not been generally considered a term of praise it has been adopted as a self-description by...
forces, which he denounced in the Jacobin Club
Jacobin Club
The Jacobin Club was the most famous and influential political club in the development of the French Revolution, so-named because of the Dominican convent where they met, located in the Rue St. Jacques , Paris. The club originated as the Club Benthorn, formed at Versailles from a group of Breton...
and in The Mountain after his recall to Paris, following the outbreak of the Thermidorian Reaction
Thermidorian Reaction
The Thermidorian Reaction was a revolt in the French Revolution against the excesses of the Reign of Terror. It was triggered by a vote of the Committee of Public Safety to execute Maximilien Robespierre, Antoine Louis Léon de Saint-Just de Richebourg and several other leading members of the Terror...
(July 27, 1794).
He was one of those who protested against the readmission of Jean-Baptiste Louvet de Couvrai
Jean-Baptiste Louvet de Couvrai
Jean-Baptiste Louvet de Couvrai was a French novelist, playwright, journalist, politician, and diplomat.-Early life and literary works:...
and other survivors of the Girondist
Girondist
The Girondists were a political faction in France within the Legislative Assembly and the National Convention during the French Revolution...
party to the Convention in March 1795; and, when the populace invaded the legislature on the 1 Prairial Year III (May 20, 1795) and compelled the deputies to legislate in accordance with their desires. He proposed the immediate establishment of a special commission to assure the execution of the proposed changes and assume the functions of the various committees.
Downfall
The failure of the insurrection involved the fall of those deputies who had supported the demands of the populace. Before the close of the sitting, Goujon, with Gilbert RommeGilbert Romme
Gilbert Romme was a French politician and mathematician who developed the French Republican Calendar.-Biography:...
, Jean-Michel Duroy, Adrien Duquesnoy
Adrien Duquesnoy
Adrien Dusquenoy was a leading figure in the French Revolution.Dusquenoy was born in Briey. He was elected as a deputy for Nancy, where he had been Mayor, for the third estate in the Estates General of 1789...
, Pierre Bourbotte, Pierre-Aimable de Soubrany, and others were put under arrest by their colleagues; and on their way to the château
Château
A château is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor or a country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally—and still most frequently—in French-speaking regions...
of Taureau in Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
, he had a narrow escape from a mob at Avranches
Avranches
Avranches is a commune in the Manche department in the Basse-Normandie region in north-western France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. The inhabitants are called Avranchinais.-History:...
.
They were brought back to Paris for trial before a military commission on June 17, and, although no proof of their complicity in organizing the insurrection could be found (they were, in fact, with the exception of Goujon and Bourbotte, strangers to one another) they were sentenced to death
Death Sentence
Death Sentence is a short story by the American science-fiction writer Isaac Asimov. It was first published in the November 1943 issue of Astounding Science Fiction and reprinted in the 1972 collection The Early Asimov.-Plot summary:...
. In accordance with a pre-arranged plan, they attempted suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
on the staircase leading from the courtroom with a knife that Goujon had successfully concealed. Romme, Goujon and Duquesnoy succeeded, but the other three merely inflicted wounds, which did not prevent their being taken immediately to the 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...
. With their deaths, The Mountain ceased to exist as a party.
Before his suicide, he said:
I swore to defend her [the Constitution of Year I] and die for her, I die happy not to have betrayed my oatha sentiment he has completed with a clear opinion on the future:
I would die happier if I were certain that after me, she would not be destroyed and replaced by another constitution [the Constitution of Year III] where equality is disregarded, rights violated, and that the masses will be completely subservient to the rich, sole mistress of the government and of the state.