Camille Desmoulins
Benoît Camille Desmoulins (born March 2, 1760 in Guise , † April 5, 1794 in Paris ) was a French lawyer, journalist and politician. One of the leaders of the French Revolution from the start , he was particularly closely associated with Georges Danton .
Life
Desmoulins studied law at the Collège Louis le Grand in Paris, became a lawyer in Paris and, as an enlightener , advocated the ideals of human freedom and equality from an early age .
He was one of the founders of the Club des Cordeliers and an opponent of the Girondists . In the Palais Royal he won over the crowd with popular speeches (“Aux armes!” - “To arms!”). When he asked her on July 12, 1789 to wear a badge for the freedom fighters, and even put a leaf from a tree on his hat, the custom of wearing cockades arose . He contributed to the storming of the Bastille with this passionate appeal and triggered a veritable movement.
When storming the Bastille, he proclaimed freedom and equality to the French from the rubble. In his successful journal Révolutions de France et du Brabant , he called himself the “Procureur général de la lanterne” and declared that popular sovereignty was the only acceptable form of constitution. The newspaper La Tribune des Patriotes , which he published, only appeared four issues.
Desmoulins married the witty Lucile Duplessis , a daughter from a wealthy family , in 1790 .
He was an active Freemason and a member of the so-called Neuf Sœurs Philosopher's Lodge in Paris . Although Robespierre's childhood friend , he felt more attracted to Danton and founded the Club des Cordeliers with him. From then on he acted jointly with Danton, also in the Tuileries storm and the September murders in 1792.
Elected to the National Convention by the Paris community , he voted for the king's death. Although he was a member of the Mountain Party , he paid full respect to the Girondins, tried to work towards a reconciliation of the parties with Danton and, when this attempt failed and the Girondists had to climb the scaffold, proposed the establishment of a court of grace. In the same vein he published his Vieux cordelier in January 1794 , a sheet of intellect , wit, and biting satire, in which he described the tyranny of the men of terror and called for true freedom, moderation, and judicious use of the law. Hébert , whom he particularly attacked, accused him of intending to restore kingship. Robespierre, after apparently defending his friend beforehand, moved under pressure from radicals in the welfare committee - such as B. Billaud-Varenne - the burning of all the numbers of the Vieux cordelier before the full assembly . When Desmoulins attacked the men of terrorism and the Jacobins even more violently, Robespierre ordered Desmoulins, Danton et al. On March 30, 1794. a. arrest, whereupon, above all, Saint-Just , who is personally at odds with Desmoulins, pursued his conviction.
Desmoulins was initially a supporter of a radical course, but later moved away from it. After being convicted by Robespierre, he was executed along with Danton and several others. On the scaffold on April 5, 1794, he exclaimed, pointing to the guillotine : “So this is the reward for the first apostle of freedom! The monsters that demand my blood will not survive me long! ”With which he was at least proved right with regard to Robespierre and Saint-Just, since they were executed on July 28 of the same year.
His 23-year-old wife Lucile, who complained about his execution, was forced to follow him to the scaffold 8 days later.
Works
In addition to a host of pamphlets and leaflets, Desmoulins wrote:
- Discours de la lanterne aux Parisiens , Paris 1792 2
- Satires du choix des meilleures plèces de vers qui ont précédé et suivi la révolution , Paris, 1792
- Histoire des Brissotins, ou fragments de l'histoire secrète de la révolution et des six premiers mois de la république , Paris 1793, 1794 2
- Opuscules , Marseille, Strasbourg and Paris 1790
Claretie (Paris 1874, 2 vol.), Who also wrote his biography, got a new edition of his writings.
literature
- Jules Claretie : Camille Desmoulins, Lucile Desmoulins: étude sur les Dantonistes: d'après des documents nouveaux et inédits. E. Plon, Paris 1875 (biography)
Web links
- Literature by and about Camille Desmoulins in the catalog of the German National Library
- biographical article about Camille Desmoulins on historicum.net
- Camille Desmoulin's letter of July 16, 1789 to his father, translated into German, in which he reports on the beginning of the French Revolution from his perspective
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Desmoulins, Camille |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | French lawyer, journalist and politician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 2, 1760 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Guise |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 5, 1794 |
| Place of death | Paris |