| Son of a provincial teacher; was a gifted child, whose first collection of poems was published when he was fifteen; after completing legal studies at Reims, worked as lawyer in the Parlement of Paris; sent to Saint-Domingue (Haiti), where served as prosecutor (1783-1787); elected to the Assemblée nationale (National Assembly) (1791-1792) as a representative of the département of Vosges; appointed a member of the legislative committee; served as vice president (20 Dec 1791 - 26 Dec 1791) and president (26 Dec 1791 - 8 Jan 1792) of the National Assembly; elected to the Convention nationale (National Convention), but refused to sit; declined his appointment (6 Oct 1792) as justice minister; imprisoned (3 Sep 1793) for performance of his comedy, Paméla, considered to be targeted against the Jacobin-dominated Convention; released after the coup of 9 Thermidor (27 Jul 1794); named a member of the Tribunal of Appeals (1795) and later as a commissar of the Directoire exécutif (Executive Directory) in Vosges (1796); served as interior minister (16 Jul 1797 - 14 Sep 1797); elected (9 Sep 1797) member of the Executive Directory to replace Lazare Carnot; selected to be replaced (9 May 1798) according to the constitutional provisions; again took the portfolio of interior minister (17 Jun 1798 - 22 Jun 1799); during the Consulate, was named a member of the Sénat conservateur (25 Dec 1799); after the fall of the Empire, did not take active part in politics and devoted himself to agricultural study.
Biography source: [3] |
