Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès

Originated from a notary family of Fréjus; educated for an ecclesiastical career at the college of Draguignan and seminary of Saint-Sulpice; rose in the church to become vicar-general and chancellor of the diocese of Chartres; appointed conselor commissar at the Chamber of Clergy of France (1787); issued pamphlet Qu'est-ce que le tiers état? (1789), identifying the unprivileged Third Estate with the French nation; elected (19 May 1789) as a representative of the Third Estate by the constituency of Paris to the États-Généraux (Estates-General); was one of the initiators of declaring the States General an assembly of representatives of the French people (15 Jun 1789); deputy of the Assemblée nationale (National Assembly) (1789-1791); served as President of the National Assembly (8 Jun 1790 - 21 Jun 1790); elected to Convention nationale (National Convention), representing the département of Sarthe (1792-1795); voted for the execution of King Louis XVI; served as a member of the Comité de salut public (Committee of Public Safety) (5 Mar 1795 - 3 Jul 1795, 2 Aug 1795 - 4 Nov 1795); elected President of the National Convention (20 Apr 1795 - 5 May 1795); elected (15 Oct 1795) to the Corps législatif by 19 départements, opted for Sarthe; selected for sitting in the Conseil des Cent-Cents (Council of Five Hundred); elected (1 Nov 1795) a member of the Directoire exécutif (Executive Directory) by the Conseil des Anciens (Council of Ancients), but declined (2 Nov 1795); survived an assassination attempt (12 Apr 1797); President of the Council of Five Hundred (21 Nov 1797 - 21 Dec 1797); appointed (10 May 1798) ambassador to the Kingdom of Prussia; elected a member of the Executive Directory for the second time (16 May 1799) to replace Jean-François Reubell; returned to Paris (returned on 7 Jun 1799) and assumed his seat (9 Jun 1799); served as President of the Directory (19 Jun 1799 - 23 Sep 1799); conspiring with Napoléon Bonaparte, helped organize the 18 Brumaire coup (9 Nov 1799 - 10 Nov 1799) that overthrew the Directory; appointed Consul of the Republic (10 Nov 1799 - 25 Dec 1799) along with Bonaparte and Pierre-Roger Ducos; drafted the Constitution of Year VIII; nominated member of the Sénat conservateur (ex officio as the outgoing consul according to Art. 24, Constitution of Year VIII, effective 25 Dec 1799); elected president of the Sénat (25 Dec 1799 - 1800); nominated grand officer of the Legion of Honor (14 Jun 1803), count of the empire (3 Jun 1808); nominated to the Chambre des pairs (Chamber of Peers) (2 Jun 1815) during the Cent-Jours (Hundred Days); banished as a regicide (1815) and did not return to France until 1830. Biography source: [4]