Philippe-François-Joseph Le Bas

Philippe Le Bas

Philippe-François-Joseph Le Bas or Lebas (born November 4, 1764 in Frévent , † July 28, 1794 in Paris ) was a French revolutionary and politician who had been a member of the National Convention since September 1792 . He was a lawyer and had previously worked as a lawyer and district administrator in Saint-Pol , Department Pas-de-Calais . He was also employed as a representative en mission .

Act

In the convent, Le Bas belonged to the mountain party and was a loyal supporter of Maximilien de Robespierre . The two men were compatriots, which certainly promoted this bond. In September 1793, Le Bas became a member of the security committee .

When, in October 1793, Louis Antoine de Saint-Just , entrusted by the convent to improve the desolate situation of the Rhine Army, was looking for an assistant for this task, Robespierre recommended Le Bas to him. The two people's representatives then carried out their work very constructively until the end of the year and in 1794 did the same with the Northern Army, which contributed significantly to the victory in the Battle of Fleurus .

The attack on the City Hall of Paris on the night of the 9th to the 10th Thermidor by the National Guard

Philippe-François-Joseph Le Bas showed a lot of character on 9th Thermidor (July 27, 1794) when he demanded in the convent that Robespierre, Saint-Just, Couthon and Robespierre's younger brother be arrested, which he did. The other events are largely known: the prisoners were freed once again and finally found themselves together in the Paris City Hall without being able to decide on a major resistance that could have been quite successful. When units of the National Guard under Barras, sent by the convent, stormed the town hall on Thermidor 10 at 2 a.m., Le Bas shot himself with a pistol. His friend Louis Antoine de Saint-Just watched over his corpse until he was arrested and taken away, only to die a few hours later under the guillotine, an end that Le Bas tried to avoid with his pistol shot.

Philippe-François-Joseph Le Bas was married to Elisabeth Duplay , the daughter of Maurice Duplay , with whom Robespierre sublet on Rue Honoré . From this marriage came Philippe Le Bas (1794-1860), who later became President of the Institut de France .

Others

Le Bas plays a role in the drama Robespierre of Romain Rolland .

literature

• Hans Peter Richter: Saint-Just and the French Revolution: Great Figures , Engelbert-Verlag, Gebrüder Zimmermann GmbH, Balve / Sauerland 1975

Web links

• Philippe Lebas Brief description, quotations, references