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Jean-Nicolas-Paul-François Barras b. 30 Jun 1755, Fox-Amphoux, Var |
| Title: | Membre du Directoire exécutif de la République française (Member of the Executive Directory of the French Republic) |
| Term: | 2 Nov 1795 - 10 Nov 1799 |
| Chronology: | 31 Oct 1795, nomination of fifty candidates for election of five members of the Directoire exécutif (Executive Directory) proclaimed by the Conseil des Cinq-Cents (Council of Five Hundred); the list passed to the Conseil des Anciens (Council of Ancients) [1] |
| 1 Nov 1795, election as a member of the Executive Directory proclaimed by the Council of Ancients, session of the Council, salle des Machines, Palais des Tuileries, Paris [1] | |
| 2 Nov 1795, Executive Directory constituted, first meeting of the Executive Directory, Palais du Luxembourg, Paris [2] | |
| 10 Nov 1799, the letter of resignation (dated 9 Nov 1799) presented to the Council of Five Hundred [3] and to the Council of Ancients [4]; no formal acceptance given | |
| Names/titles: | Vicomte de Barras-Clumanc (viscount of Barras-Clumanc) [from birth] |
| Président de la Convention nationale (President of the National Convention) (4 Feb 1795 - 19 Feb 1795) [see details]; Président du Directoire exécutif de la République française (President of the Executive Directory of the French Republic) (1 Nov 1796 - 30 Jan 1797, 27 Nov 1797 - 25 Feb 1798, 25 Feb 1799 - 26 May 1799) [see details] |
| Biography: | |||||||||||||||||
| Descended from a noble family of Provence; joined the regiment of Languedoc (1771); in the rank of captain transferred to Pondicherry, India (served 1776-1780); took part in colonial expeditions (1781-1783); joined the Jacobin Club; took part in the storming of the Bastille; elected as deputy representative of the département of Var to the Convention nationale (National Convention) (1792-1795), replaced Edmond-Louis-Alexis Dubois-Crancé, who opted for the Ardennes; voted for the king's death at the trial of Louis XVI; sent to the Hautes-Alpes and Basses-Alpes as representative of the Convention (9 Mar 1793 - 30 Apr 1793) for recruitment of the soldiers; appointed the Convention's representative with the Army of Italy (30 Apr 1793 - 23 Jan 1794), distinguished himself in capturing Toulon (1793); named commander-in-chief of the forces defending the Convention against the national guard; played an outstanding role in overthrowing the dictatorship of the Robespierrists (27 Jul 1794); served on the Comité de sûreté générale (Committee of General Security) (5 Nov 1794 - 5 Mar 1795, 1 Sep 1795 - 4 Nov 1795) and as President of the National Convention (4 Feb 1795 - 19 Feb 1795); appointed commander of the Army of the Interior (4 Oct 1795); together with General Napoléon Bonaparte defended the regime against an attempted royalist insurrection (5 Oct 1795); elected to the Corps législatif (1795); elected (1 Nov 1795) one of the original members of the Directoire exécutif (Executive Directory); three times served as President of the Directory (1 Nov 1796 - 30 Jan 1797, 27 Nov 1797 - 25 Feb 1798, 25 Feb 1799 - 26 May 1799); emerged as one of its leaders and became notorious for excessive corruption and luxurious living; engineered the coup of 18 Fructidor (4 Sep 1797), which made him the most important figure in the republican government; elected to the Conseil des Cinq-Cents (Council of Five Hundred) (12 Apr 1798) and to the Conseil des Anciens (Council of Ancients) (12 Apr 1799); resigned as a Directory member on the eve of the 18 Brumaire coup (9 Nov 1799); was exiled to Brussels (1801-1805); after the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy, was permitted to live in peace at his estate at Chaillot. Biography source: [5] |
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| Election results: | |||||||||||||||||
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| Election result source: [1] | |||||||||||||||||
| Sources and notes: | |||||||||||||||||
| [1] | Gazette nationale ou Le Moniteur universel, No. 45, 15 brumaire an IV. | ||||||||||||||||
| [2] | Recueil des Actes du Directoire exécutif (Procès-verbaux, arrêtés, instructions, lettres et actes divers)", published by Antonin Debidour in "Collection de documents inédits sur l'histoire de France publiés par les soins du ministre de l'Instruction publique (Paris: Imprimerie nationale, 1910-1917)., vol. 1, pp. 1-4. | ||||||||||||||||
| [3] | Gazette nationale ou Le Moniteur universel, No. 50, 20 brumaire an VIII. | ||||||||||||||||
| [4] | Gazette nationale ou Le Moniteur universel, No. 51, 21 brumaire an VIII. | ||||||||||||||||
| [5] | Dictionnaire des parlementaires français: depuis le 1er mai 1789 jusqu'au 1er mai 1889, ed. by Adolphe Robert, Edgar Bourloton, Gaston Cougny (Paris: Bourloton, 1889-1891). | ||||||||||||||||
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