Biography of François de Neufchâteau, Nicolas-Louis - Archontology
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François de Neufchâteau, Nicolas-Louis

Nicolas-Louis François de Neufchâteau

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

Title: Membre du Directoire exécutif de la République française (Member of the Executive Directory of the French Republic)
Term: 10 Sep 1797 - 19 May 1798
Chronology: 8 Sep 1797, ten candidates for election of a member of the Directoire exécutif (Executive Directory) nominated by the Conseil des Cinq-Cents (Council of Five Hundred) and the list passed to the Conseil des Anciens (Council of Ancients) [1, pp. 351-352]
9 Sep 1797, elected and proclaimed member of the Executive Directory by the Council of Ancients, session of the Council, salle des Machines, Palais des Tuileries, Paris [1, p. 355] [2] [3]
10 Sep 1797, installed as a member of the Directory, meeting of the Executive Directory, Palais du Luxembourg, Paris [1, p. 387] [4, vol. 2, pp. 231-232]
9 May 1798, chosen to be replaced by lot, meeting of the Executive Directory, Palais du Luxembourg, Paris [5]
19 May 1798, functions as a member of the Executive Directory expired according to the Law of 15 ventôse, Year VI
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]
Président de l'Assemblée nationale (President of the National Assembly) (26 Dec 1791 - 8 Jan 1792) [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: [6]

Elections:

Candidate
Vote
Conseil des
Cinq-Cents
(8 Sep 1797)
Conseil des
Anciens
(9 Sep 1797)
Nicolas-Louis François de Neufchâteau 205 111
André Masséna 194
Pierre-François-Charles Augereau 192
Dominique-Joseph Garat 190
Louis-Jérôme Gohier 189
Charles Delacroix de Contaut 183
Gaspard Monge 179
Marie-Jean-François-Philibert Lecarlier d'Ardon 178
Manuel-Louis-Jean-Augustin Ernouf 175
Pierre-Louis Ginguené 155
total votes cast/absolute majority 239/120 146/74
Election result source: [1, pp. 351-352]

[1] Corps législatif: Procès-verbal des séances du Conseil des Anciens (Paris: Imprimerie nationale), Fructidor, an V.
[2] Bulletin des lois de la République, No. 143, pp. 14-15.
[3] Gazette nationale ou Le Moniteur universel, N° 359, 29 fructidor, l'an 5 de la République Française une et indivisible (vendredi 15 septembre 1797, vieux stile), p. 1448.
[4] Les procès-verbaux du Directoire exécutif, an V - an VIII. Inventaire des registres des delibérations et des minutes des arrêtés, lettres et actes du Directoire faisant suite au Recueil des actes du Directoire exécutif d'Antonin Debidour, ed. by Pierre-Dominique Cheynet (Paris: Centre historique des Archives nationales, 2000-).
[5] Gazette nationale ou Le Moniteur universel, No. 232, 22 floréal an VI.
[6] Dictionnaire des parlementaires français 1789-1889,
Image: engraving by Laugier (1812) after a painting by Jean-Baptiste Isabey (1798).