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FRANÇOIS de NEUFCHÂTEAU, Nicolas

Nicolas-Louis François de Neufchâteau

b. 17 Apr 1750, Saffais, Meurthe
d. 10 Jan 1828, Paris

Title: Président de l'Assemblée nationale (President of the National Assembly)
Term: 26 Dec 1791 - 8 Jan 1792
Chronology: 26 Dec 1791, election as president proclaimed by the National Assembly, morning session of the Assembly, Salle du Manège, Paris [1, p. 412]; assumed the chair at the evening session [1, p. 419]
8 Jan 1792, expiration of term; successor elected and proclaimed [2, p. 161]
Names/titles: Original surname: François (de Neufchâteau added in c. 1765; ratified by the Parlement of Nancy in 1777); comte François de Neufchâteau, comte de l'Empire (count François de Neufchâteau, count of the Empire [from 26 Apr 1808]
Membre du Directoire exécutif de la République française (Member of the Executive Directory of the French Republic) (10 Sep 1797 - 19 May 1798) [see details]
Biography:


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]

Elections:

Candidate Votes (26 Dec 1791)
Nicolas-Louis François de Neufchâteau 258
voters 419
Information source: [1, p. 412]

[1] Archives parlementaires. Série 1, , vol. XXXVI.
[2] Archives parlementaires. Série 1, , vol. XXXVII.
[3] Dictionnaire des parlementaires français 1789-1889,
Image: engraving by Laugier (1812) after a painting by Jean-Baptiste Isabey (1798).