Biography of Barbeau Du Barran, Joseph-Nicolas - Archontology
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Barbeau Du Barran, Joseph-Nicolas

Joseph-Nicolas Barbeau Du Barran, dit Dubarran

b. 3 Jul 1761, Magnan, Gers, France [1]
d. 16 May 1816, Assens, Switzerland

Title: Président de la Convention nationale (President of the National Convention)
Term: 4 Feb 1794 - 19 Feb 1794
Chronology: 4 Feb 1794, elected, session of the National Convention, salle des Machines, Palais national des Tuileries, Paris [2]
5 Feb 1794, assumed the chair, session of the National Convention, salle des Machines, Palais national des Tuileries, Paris [3]
19 Feb 1794, ceased to exercise the functions of office upon the election of a successor [4]
Names/titles: Original family name: Barbeau
Biography:
Successful attorney practicing in the area of Bas-Armagnac, he was elected (31 Aug 1791) as a representative of the département of Gers to the Assemblée nationale (National Assembly) (1791-1792); refused to accept the election and was appointed procureur général syndic of Gers (1791-1792); elected to the Convention nationale (National Convention) (1792-1795), representing Gers; sat with the Montagnards; voted for the death sentence in the trial of King Louis XVI; in his speech delivered at the meeting of the Convention of 13 Apr 1792, he defended Jean-Paul Marat who was eventually acquitted of all charges before the Tribunal; served as a member of the Comité de sûreté générale (Committee of General Security) (13 Oct 1793 - 6 Oct 1794); a member of the Jacobin Club, he served as its president (5 Oct 1793 - 23 Oct 1793); was ordered to go on mission to Calvados (26 Oct 1793), but refused and was discharged (28 Oct 1793); elected President of the National Convention (4 Feb 1794 - 19 Feb 1794); after the fall of Maximilien Robespierre, he continued to side with the Montagnards; during the Thermidorian reaction, he displayed great energy in defending the popular societies and former members of the committees appointed by the National Convention; following the insurrection of 1 Prairial, Year III (20 May 1795), his name was put on the list of the Montagnard leaders subject to arrest (28 May 1795); escaped imprisonment and later was amnestied (26 Oct 1795); returned to Gers where he was elected president of the criminal tribunal (17 Apr 1798), but his election was voided by the Law of 22 Floréal Year VI (11 May 1798); during the Cent Jours (Hundred Days), he was elected a deputy of the Chambre des représentants (Chamber of Representatives) from Gers; banished as a regicide (1816) and moved to Switzerland where he died shortly after arrival.
Biographical sources: Dictionnaire des Conventionnels, 23; Dictionnaire des parlementaires français 1789-1889, 1:159; "Un Conventionnel Gersois: Barbeau-Dubarran", by G.Brégail in Bulletin de la Société archéologique, historique, littéraire & scientifique du Gers, 53:401-412.
Elections:

Candidate Votes (4 Feb 1794)
Joseph-Nicolas Barbeau Du Barran, dit Dubarran 160
voters/absolute majority 180/91
Source of electoral results: Archives parlementaires - Série 1, 84:293.

[1] "Un Conventionnel Gersois", op. cit., p. 401: "... naquit le 3 juillet 1761 dans la maison de campagne dénommée Barran et située dans la commune de Magnan (canton de Nogaro). "
[2] Archives parlementaires - Série 1, 84:293; Procès-verbal de la Convention nationale, 31:17.
[3] Archives parlementaires - Série 1, 84:294-341.
[4] Archives parlementaires - Série 1, 85:260; Procès-verbal de la Convention nationale, 32:29.
  Image: portrait by Jacques-Louis David (1795).