Maximin Isnard
Encyclopedia
Maximin Isnard French revolutionary
, was a dealer in perfumery at Draguignan
when he was elected deputy for the département of the Var
to the Legislative Assembly
, where he joined the Girondist
s.
before opening a factory specializing in silk and soap.
On September 9, 1791, he was elected member of Legislative Assembly
by the department of Var
, in southeastern of France (district of Draguignan
.
Isnard was linked to Brissot and sat at the left of the Assembly. He was very violent in his talks. For example, in his opinion, the French State had to deport all priests who have not accepted the Revolution.
He supported the "brissotins" who wanted a war against foreign countries, in order to strengthen Revolution.
Attacking the court, and the Austrian committee in the Tuileries, he demanded the disbandment of the king's bodyguard, and reproached Louis XVI
for infidelity to the constitution. But on 20 June 1792, when the crowd invaded the palace, he was one of the deputies who went to place themselves beside the king to protect him.
in September 1792, he was sent to the army of the North, near Nice, to justify the insurrection ; he announced the take of Sospel
and went back to Paris in autumn.
He voted for the death of Louis XVI in January 1793 and became a member of the Committee of General Security
.
The committee, consisting of 25 members, proved unwieldy, and on 4 April, Isnard presented, on behalf of the Girondist majority, the report recommending a smaller committee of nine, which two days later was established as the Committee of Public Safety
.
Isnard was presiding at the Convention when a deputation of the commune of Paris came to demand that Jacques René Hébert should be set at liberty, and he made the famous reply: "If by these insurrections, continually renewed, it should happen that the principle of national representation should suffer, I declare to you in the name of France that soon people will search the banks of the Seine to see if Paris has ever existed"
, he was allowed to return to the Convention on December 4, 1794.
Seating to the Right, he became an adversary of more extremist revolutionaries.
On May 1795, he was sent to the département of Bouches-du-Rhône
to uncover and prosecute fleeing Jacobins, which led him to being suspected of royalist sympathies.
to the Council of Five Hundred
, where he played a very insignificant role.
In 1797 he retired to Draguignan
.
, and in 1804 another pamphlet, Réflexions relatives au sénatus-consulte du 28 floréal an XII, an enthusiastic apology for the Empire.
He was a supporter of Napoléon Ier, who named him Baron in 1813.
Upon the restoration he professed such royalist sentiments that he was not disturbed, in spite of the law of 1816 proscribing regicide ex-members of the Convention.
In 1825, he died in Grasse, in a deep anonymity.
See FA Aulard
, Les Orateurs de la Legislative et de la Convention (Paris, 2nd ed., 1906).
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...
, was a dealer in perfumery at Draguignan
Draguignan
Draguignan is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, in southeastern France.It is a sub-prefecture of the department and self-proclaimed "capital of Artillery" and "Porte du Verdon".The city is only from St...
when he was elected deputy for the département of the Var
Var (département)
The Var is a French department in the region Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur in Provence, in southeast France. It takes its name from the river Var, which used to flow along its eastern boundary, but the boundary was moved in 1860...
to the Legislative Assembly
Legislative Assembly (France)
During the French Revolution, the Legislative Assembly was the legislature of France from 1 October 1791 to September 1792. It provided the focus of political debate and revolutionary law-making between the periods of the National Constituent Assembly and of the National Convention.The Legislative...
, where he joined the Girondist
Girondist
The Girondists were a political faction in France within the Legislative Assembly and the National Convention during the French Revolution...
s.
Before the French Revolution
Born in 1755, he was the last son of Maximin Isnard and Anne-Thérèse Fanton. He became perfumer in DraguignanDraguignan
Draguignan is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, in southeastern France.It is a sub-prefecture of the department and self-proclaimed "capital of Artillery" and "Porte du Verdon".The city is only from St...
before opening a factory specializing in silk and soap.
Legislative Assembly
Isnard was quickly a revolutionary in accepting "new ideas" at the beginning of the Revolution, in 1789-1790.On September 9, 1791, he was elected member of Legislative Assembly
Legislative Assembly
Legislative Assembly is the name given in some countries to either a legislature, or to one of its branch.The name is used by a number of member-states of the Commonwealth of Nations, as well as a number of Latin American countries....
by the department of Var
Var
Var, VAR, VAr, VaR or var can mean:VAR* Varna Airport IATA airport code* Vacuum arc remelting, a process for production of steel and special alloys...
, in southeastern of France (district of Draguignan
Draguignan
Draguignan is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, in southeastern France.It is a sub-prefecture of the department and self-proclaimed "capital of Artillery" and "Porte du Verdon".The city is only from St...
.
Isnard was linked to Brissot and sat at the left of the Assembly. He was very violent in his talks. For example, in his opinion, the French State had to deport all priests who have not accepted the Revolution.
He supported the "brissotins" who wanted a war against foreign countries, in order to strengthen Revolution.
Attacking the court, and the Austrian committee in the Tuileries, he demanded the disbandment of the king's bodyguard, and reproached Louis XVI
Louis XVI of France
Louis XVI was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre until 1791, and then as King of the French from 1791 to 1792, before being executed in 1793....
for infidelity to the constitution. But on 20 June 1792, when the crowd invaded the palace, he was one of the deputies who went to place themselves beside the king to protect him.
Member of the National Convention
Elected to the National ConventionNational 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...
in September 1792, he was sent to the army of the North, near Nice, to justify the insurrection ; he announced the take of Sospel
Sospel
Sospel is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France near the Italian border and not far from Monte Carlo.-History:...
and went back to Paris in autumn.
He voted for the death of Louis XVI in January 1793 and became a member of the Committee of General Security
Committee of General Security
The Committee of General Security was a French parliamentary committee which acted as police agency during the French Revolution that, along with the Committee of Public Safety, oversaw the Reign of Terror....
.
The committee, consisting of 25 members, proved unwieldy, and on 4 April, Isnard presented, on behalf of the Girondist majority, the report recommending a smaller committee of nine, which two days later was established as 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...
.
President of the National Convention (May 1793)
He was elected President of the Convention on May 16, 1793.Isnard was presiding at the Convention when a deputation of the commune of Paris came to demand that Jacques René Hébert should be set at liberty, and he made the famous reply: "If by these insurrections, continually renewed, it should happen that the principle of national representation should suffer, I declare to you in the name of France that soon people will search the banks of the Seine to see if Paris has ever existed"
The running away
On 2 June 1793 he offered his resignation as representative of the people, but was not comprised in the decree by which the Convention determined upon the arrest of twenty-nine Girondists. On 3 October, however, his arrest was decreed along with that of several other Girondist deputies who had left the Convention and were fomenting civil war in the departments.1794-1795
Initially proscribed during the Thermidorian ReactionThermidorian 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...
, he was allowed to return to the Convention on December 4, 1794.
Seating to the Right, he became an adversary of more extremist revolutionaries.
On May 1795, he was sent to the département of Bouches-du-Rhône
Bouches-du-Rhône
Bouches-du-Rhône is a department in the south of France named after the mouth of the Rhône River. It is the most populous department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Its INSEE and postal code is 13.-History of the department:...
to uncover and prosecute fleeing Jacobins, which led him to being suspected of royalist sympathies.
1795-1797
On October 13, 1795, now regarded as a royalist, he was elected deputy for the VarVar
Var, VAR, VAr, VaR or var can mean:VAR* Varna Airport IATA airport code* Vacuum arc remelting, a process for production of steel and special alloys...
to the Council of Five Hundred
Council of Five Hundred
The Council of Five Hundred , or simply the Five Hundred was the lower house of the legislature of France during the period commonly known as the Directory , from 22 August 1795 until 9 November 1799, roughly the second half of the period generally referred to as the...
, where he played a very insignificant role.
In 1797 he retired to Draguignan
Draguignan
Draguignan is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, in southeastern France.It is a sub-prefecture of the department and self-proclaimed "capital of Artillery" and "Porte du Verdon".The city is only from St...
.
End of life
In 1802, he published a pamphlet titled De l'immortalité de l'âme (“Immortality of Soul”), in which he praised CatholicismCatholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
, and in 1804 another pamphlet, Réflexions relatives au sénatus-consulte du 28 floréal an XII, an enthusiastic apology for the Empire.
He was a supporter of Napoléon Ier, who named him Baron in 1813.
Upon the restoration he professed such royalist sentiments that he was not disturbed, in spite of the law of 1816 proscribing regicide ex-members of the Convention.
In 1825, he died in Grasse, in a deep anonymity.
See FA Aulard
François Victor Alphonse Aulard
François Victor Alphonse Aulard was the first professional French historian of the French Revolution and of Napoleon.He was born at Montbron in Charente...
, Les Orateurs de la Legislative et de la Convention (Paris, 2nd ed., 1906).