Louis-Marie de La Revellière, dit La Revellière-Lépeaux

Educated in the University of Angers; received a degree in law; admitted to the bar as a lawyer of the Paris Parlement (1775-1776); returned to Anjou, where studied botany; elected (20 Mar 1789) as a representative of the Third Estate by the seneschality of Anjou to the États-Généraux (Estates-General); deputy of the Assemblée nationale (National Assembly) (1789-1791); elected to Convention nationale (National Convention), representing the département of Maine-et-Loire (1792-1793, 1794-1795); protested against the terror and Jacobin dictatorship; submitted his resignation as a member of the National Convention (13 Aug 1793); narrowly escaped arrest on orders (October 1793) of the Comité de sûreté générale (Committee of General Security); after the fall of Maximilien Robespierre returned to the Convention and worked on the Constitution of the Year III; elected President of the National Convention (19 Jul 1795 - 3 Aug 1795), member of the Comité de salut public (Committee of Public Safety) (1 Sep 1795 - 4 Nov 1795); elected (12 Oct 1795) to the Corps législatif by 31 départements, opted for Maine-et-Loire; selected to sit in the Conseil des Anciens (Council of Ancients) (28 Oct 1795); elected president of the Council of Ancients (28 Oct 1795 - 2 Nov 1795); elected (1 Nov 1795) one of the original members of the Directoire exécutif (Executive Directory); three times served as President of the Directory (29 Jul 1796 - 1 Nov 1796, 24 Aug 1797 - 27 Nov 1797, 27 Nov 1798 - 25 Feb 1799); was one of the instigators of the 18 Fructidor coup (4 Sep 1797) when the ultraconservatives were purged from the Corps legislatif and other posts; accused of corruption, resigned his seat in the Directory (18 Jun 1799) along with Philippe-Antoine Merlin (de Douai); retired from politics after the 18 Brumaire coup (9 Nov 1799); left Paris and devoting his time to agriculture, botany and archaeology; was not named among the regicides by the Bourbon government (1816) and was allowed to spend his last years in France. Biography source: [4; 5]