HomeNationsFranceNational ConventionVergniaud, Pierre-Victurnien
Vergniaud, Pierre-Victurnien

Pierre-Victurnien Vergniaud

b. 31 May 1753, Limoges, Haute-Vienne [1]
d. 31 Oct 1793, Paris

Title: Président de la Convention nationale (President of the National Convention)
Term: 10 Jan 1793 - 24 Jan 1793
Chronology: 10 Jan 1793, elected, session of the Convention, Salle du Manège, Paris [2]
11 Jan 1793, assumed the chair, session of the Convention, Salle du Manège, Paris [2]
24 Jan 1793, ceased to exercise the functions of office upon the election of a successor [3][4]
Names/titles: Father's name was also spelled Verniau; alternative spelling of first name: Pierre-Victorien
Other offices: Président de l'Assemblée nationale (President of the National Assembly) [30 Oct 1791 - 15 Nov 1791] (see details)
Biography:
Son of a merchant, who supplied provisions to the military; was educated by abbé Roby, Jesuit tutor; attended public school in Limoges; with the support of Anne-Robert-Jacques Turgot, future comptroller general of finance (1774-1776), he continued his education at the Collège du Plessis in Paris; studied law at Bordeaux, where he was admitted to the bar (1781); entered civil service as secretary to the president of the Parlement of Bordeaux; advocate in the Parlement of Bordeaux (1781); was elected a member of the administration of the département of Gironde (1790) and chairman of the jury in the Criminal Tribunal (1791); elected (31 Aug 1791) as a representative of Gironde to the Assemblée nationale (National Assembly) (1791-1792); was a member of the Girondin faction; served as Vice President (17 Oct 1791 - 30 Oct 1791) and President (30 Oct 1791 - 15 Nov 1791) of the National Assembly; was considered one of the greatest orators of the French Revolution; appointed a deputy member of the Commission extraordinaire des Douze (Extraordinary Commission of Twelve) (18 Jun 1792 - 21 Sep 1792); on behalf of the Extraordinary Commission, he proposed the suspension of King Louis XVI (10 Aug 1792); was elected (5 Sep 1792) to the Convention nationale (National Convention) (1792-1793) as a deputy for Gironde; appointed a member of the committee for drafting the Constitution (10 Oct 1792); elected President of the National Convention (10 Jan 1793 - 24 Jan 1793); voted for the death sentence in the trial of Louis XVI and announced it as president of the Convention (17 Jan 1793); was put on the list of 29 Girondin deputies subject to arrest (2 Jun 1792) in the course of the Jacobin coup; condemned to death (30 Oct 1793) and guillotined (31 Oct 1793).
Biographical sources: Dictionnaire des Conventionnels, 598-603; Dictionnaire des parlementaires français 1789-1889, 5:501-502; "Bulletin de la Société archéologique et historique du Limousin" (Limoges: Chapoulaud Frères, 1858) (web site).
Elections:

Candidate Votes (10 Jan 1793)
Pierre-Victurnien Vergniaud 251
voters/absolute majority 356/179
Source of electoral results: Archives parlementaires - Série 1, 56:723.

[1] "Bulletin de la Société archéologique", op. cit., 8:49: "(1) Extrait des registres de la paroisse de St-Michel-des-Lions: «Le 31 mai 1753, a été baptisé, dans cette église, Pierre-Victurnien, fils de sieur Pierre Verniau et de Catherine Baubiat, son épouse, né, le même jour, rue du Clocher. (...) »"
[2] Archives parlementaires - Série 1, 56:723.
[3] Archives parlementaires - Série 1, 57:639.
[4] Vergniaud did not preside at the last session (24 Jan 1793, evening), which elected his successor. Ancien président Marguerite-Élie Guadet chaired this meeting. See Archives parlementaires - Série 1, 57:639.