List of people associated with the French Revolution

This is a partial list of people associated with the French Revolution, including supporters and opponents. Note that not all people listed here were French.

A

Reine AuduParticipant in The Women's March on Versailles and the 10 August (French Revolution).
Charles Augereau, duc de CastiglioneOfficer throughout the Revolutionary era and Empire; later a general and Marshal of France.
Jean-Pierre-André AmarDeputy to the National Convention from Isère; member of the Committee of General Security.

B

François-Noël BabeufProto-socialist, guillotined in 1797 after an attempted coup d'etat.
Jean Sylvain BaillyPresident of the Third Estate who administered the Tennis Court Oath; made Mayor of Paris after the storming of the Bastille; guillotined during the Reign of Terror.
Antoine BarnaveConstitutional monarchist and Feuillant; guillotined.
Paul Nicolas, vicomte de BarrasA Montagnard, then Thermidorian; ultimately the Directory régime's executive leader.
Madame du BarryMistress of King Louis XV and famous victim of the guillotine during the Reign of Terror.
François-Marie, marquis de BarthélemyBriefly a Director; exiled to French Guiana; returned to France during the Empire.
Jean-Baptiste BernadotteGeneral, Ambassador to Vienna and Minister of War; later King of Sweden and Norway.
Joséphine de BeauharnaisEmpress; wife of Napoleon Bonaparte.
Louis Alexandre BerthierGeneral; effectively Napoleon Bonaparte's chief of staff.
Jacques Nicolas Billaud-VarenneCommittee of Public Safety member; survived 9 Thermidor; later deported to French Guiana.
Joseph BonaparteEldest Bonaparte brother; supported his brother Napoleon; later made King of Naples and then Spain.
Lucien BonaparteYounger brother of Napoleon; President of the Assembly during the Directory; later fell out with Napoleon.
Napoleon BonaparteGeneral; seized power as First Consul in the 18 Brumaire coup. Made virtual dictator as Consul for Life in 1802. Declared Emperor of the French in 1804. Founded the First French Empire.
Louis Antoine de Bourbon, duc d'EnghienPrince of the Blood; son of the Duc de Bourbon; kidnapped and executed by Napoleon.
Louis François de BourbonPrince of the Blood; briefly emigrated from 1789–1790, but returned to France; expelled by Directory; died in exile.
Louis Henri, duc de BourbonPrince of the Blood, son of the Prince de Condé and father of the Duc d'Enghien; emigrated.
Louis Joseph de BourbonPrince of the Blood; composed the Brunswick Manifesto.
Charles de BouvensOrator who had to flee the French Revolution due to his conservative views.
Louis de BreteuilRoyalist; briefly supplanted Necker in the royal cabinet.
Cardinal Étienne Charles de BrienneRoyalist; President of the Royal Council of Finances shortly before the Revolution.
Jacques Pierre Brissot de WarvilleGirondist (Brissotin); guillotined.
Guillaume Marie Anne BrunePolitical journalist; Jacobin; friend of Georges Danton; appointed a general, then Marshal of France; murdered by royalists during the White Terror.
Edmund BurkeEnglish philosopher and politician; author of famous 1790 polemic against the Revolution.

C

Charles Alexandre de CalonneFrench Controller-General of Finances from 1783 to 1787, whose discovery of the perilous state of French finances in 1786 precipitated the crisis leading to the Revolution.
Jean Jacques Régis de CambacérèsModerate; Second Consul under Bonaparte; chief contributor to the Napoleonic Code.
Pierre Joseph CambonLegislative and the Convention member; directed French financial policy and aided in the Thermidor coup.
Lazare Nicolas Marguerite CarnotMathematician; physicist; Committee of Public Safety member; "Organizer of Victory"; turned against Robespierre on 9 Thermidor; a Director; ousted in 18 Fructidor coup.
Louis Philippe, duc de ChartresEldest son of the Duke of Orleans; defected to Austria with Dumouriez in 1793; later King of France.
Pierre Gaspard ChaumetteCult of Reason devotee; guillotined, as was fellow devotee Jacques Hébert.
André ChénierPoet; guillotined.
Jean ChouanRoyalist counter-revolutionary.
Étienne ClavièreGirondist; finance minister 1792; died in prison by suicide 1793.
Anacharsis ClootsPhilosopher and writer; guillotined.
Jean Marie Collot d'HerboisActor; Paris Commune member; belated Montagnard; Committee of Public Safety member; deported to French Guiana after 9 Thermidor revolt, where he died.
Marquis de CondorcetPhilosopher; mathematician; Girondist associate; died in prison.
Charlotte CordayAssassinated Marat; guillotined.
Charles-Augustin de CoulombScientist; metric system pioneer.
Georges CouthonMontagnard; Committee of Public Safety member; guillotined following 9 Thermidor.

D

Georges DantonWriter; Jacobin, but neither a Girondist nor a Montagnard; Committee of Public Safety member; guillotined.
Pierre Claude François DaunouHistorian; loosely associated with the Girondists faction; served both Directory and Empire.
Jacques-Louis DavidPainter; Montagnard; Committee of General Security member; survived fall from power following 9 Thermidor.
Louis Charles Antoine DesaixGeneral; killed while leading the French to victory during the Battle of Marengo (1800).
Camille DesmoulinsJournalist; Montagnard; Danton associate; guillotined.
Denis DiderotEnlightenment author; atheist philosopher; influenced Revolutionary theory.
Jacques François DugommierGeneral; National Convention deputy.
Charles François DumouriezGeneral; sometime Girondist and Foreign Minister in the Girondist cabinet; eventually defected to Austria.
Pierre Samuel du Pont de NemoursConstitutional monarchist; National Constituent Assembly president; eventually exiled.
Roger DucosDeputy from Landes; member of the Council of Five Hundred; vice-president of the Consulate Senate.

E

Grace ElliottScottish courtesan; former mistress of Louis Philippe II, duc d'Orléans; resident in Paris throughout the Revolution.
Antoine Joseph Marie d'EspinassyPolitician, Knight, General and Deputy; Royal of Signes and Revolutionary.

F

Fabre d'ÉglantineAuthor of the French Revolutionary Calendar; guillotined.
Joseph FeschCardinal; closely associated with Napoleon Bonaparte.
Joseph FouchéJacobin deputy; Thermidorian; Minister of Police under Napoleon.
Antoine Quentin Fouquier-TinvillePublic Prosecutor during the Reign of Terror; subsequently guillotined (1795).

G

Olympe de GougesWriter; advocate of gender equality; guillotined.
Henri GrégoireRevolutionary priest; supported Civil Constitution of the Clergy.

H

Jacques HébertPolemicist; editor of Le Père Duchesne; guillotined.
Marie Jean HéraultCommittee of Public Safety member; revised Condorcet's Constitution of 1793; Danton associate; guillotined.
Lazare HocheSoldier rapidly promoted to General during early years of Revolution.
Pierre-Augustin HulinEx-royal soldier and one of the first revolutionaries to enter the Bastille; later general under Bonaparte.

I

J

Jean-Baptiste JourdanGeneral; victor at the battles of Wattignies and Fleurus.

K

François Christophe KellermannPromoted to General early in the Revolution; Battle of Valmy hero; Marshal of France; army administrator during Empire years.
Jean-Baptiste KléberRevolutionary general; assassinated in 1800.

L

Pierre Choderlos de LaclosBonapartist general; author of Les Liaisons dangereuses.
Marie Thérèse, princesse de LamballeFriend of Marie Antoinette; victim of the September Massacres.
Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La FayetteGeneral; constitutional monarchist, co-wrote the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.
Claire LacombeFeminist revolutionary, founder of the Society of Revolutionary Republican Women.
Alexandre-Théodore, comte de LamethLeading Feuillant; formed "Triumvirate" with Barnave and Duport; eventually emigrated.
Charles Malo François LamethBrother of Alexandre de Lameth; Feuillant; emigrated.
Jean LannesSoldier rising through ranks to become general; Marshal of France; close to Bonaparte.
Arnaud de LaporteHigh royal government official, headed up antirevolutionary activities; second political victim of the guillotine.
Marquis de LaunayRoyalist governor of the Bastille; killed after its storming.
Antoine LavoisierScientist; metric pioneer; tax collector; guillotined.
Charles LeclercGeneral; close to Bonaparte; served in Haiti.
Philippe-François-Joseph Le BasDeputy to the National Convention from Pas-de-Calais; Robespierrist and close ally of Saint-Just; committed suicide at Robespierre's downfall.
Louis Michel le Peletier de Saint-FargeauFormer noble; voted to execute Louis XVI; assassinated one day before the execution of Louis XVI.
Louis LegendreDeputy for the Seine, present at various events. Eventual President of the Convention, member of the Council of Ancients and Council of Five Hundred.
Jacques-Donatien Le RayPromoted French support for the American Revolution.
Jean-Baptiste Robert LindetCommittee of Public Safety member; opposed Girondist faction.
Toussaint L'OuvertureCommander of Haitian rebels fighting against French occupying forces; captured and imprisoned by Napoleon's government.
Louis XVI of FranceFrench king at outbreak of Revolution; deposed; guillotined.
Louis XVII of FranceThe "Lost Dauphin"
Nicolas, Comte LucknerGerman-born Marshal of France; commanded troops for the First Republic; guillotined during the Reign of Terror.

M

Stanislas-Marie MaillardNational Guardsman; the first revolutionary to enter the fortress in the Storming of the Bastille
Guillaume-Chrétien de MalesherbesLouis XVI's defense counsel at his trial, although not known as a royalist; guillotined.
Jean-Paul MaratRadical journalist; Montagnard; assassinated by Charlotte Corday.
François-Séverin MarceauSoldier who participated in the storming of the Bastille; later a general.
Marie AntoinetteQueen consort of France; deposed, guillotined.
André MassénaGeneral; victor at the Battle of Zürich.
Jean-Sifrein MauryFrench cardinal; Archbishop of Paris; royalist.
Théroigne de MéricourtRadical agitator, organizer.
Philippe-Antoine Merlin
("Merlin de Douai")
Director; later a Bonapartist.
Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau  
("Mirabeau")
Represented the Third Estate in the Estates-General of 1789, despite being a noble; remained a major political figure throughout the rest of his life.
Antoine-François MomoroPrinter, publisher, and section leader; Hébertist; originator of the phrase Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité; guillotined.
Charles, baron de Montesquieu
("Montesquieu")
Enlightenment political philosopher; influenced Revolutionary thinking
Jean Victor Marie MoreauGeneral; victor at the Battle of Hohenlinden.
Gouverneur MorrisAmerican minister to France; witness and diarist of the early Revolution, 1792–94.
Jean-François-Auguste MoulinGeneral; member of the Directory.
Jean Joseph MounierMonarchist deputy; president of the National Constituent Assembly, 1789.
Joachim MuratProminent cavalry general; became Napoleon's brother-in-law; later made King of Naples.

N

Jacques NeckerLiberal royalist; Director-General of Finance whose dismissal precipitated the storming of the Bastille.

O

Louis Philippe II, duc d'OrléansFirst Prince of the Blood; supported the Revolution, taking the name Philippe Egalité; voted to execute his cousin the King; later guillotined on suspicion of plotting to become King.

P

Thomas PaineAmerican revolutionary writer; moved to France during French Revolution but subsequently fell out of favor; arrested, imprisoned and sentenced to death during Reign of Terror, but survived.
Jérôme Pétion de VilleneuveInsurrectionary mayor of Paris; member of first Committee of Public Safety; associated with Girondists; committed suicide during Reign of Terror.
Pierre PhilippeauxMontagnard; Danton associate; guillotined.
Philippe EgalitéSee Orléans, Louis Philippe II, duc d' above.
Charles PichegruGeneral; member of the Council of Five Hundred; conspirator in the Coup of 18 Fructidor.
Claude Antoine, comte Prieur-Duvernois
("Prieur de la Côte-d'Or")
Engineer; Committee of Public Safety member; Carnot associate; turned against Robespierre on 9 Thermidor; Council of Five Hundred member during Directory.
Pierre Louis Prieur
("Crieur de la Marne")
National Constituent Assembly secretary; Committee of Public Safety member; exiled following Bourbon Restoration.
Louis, comte de ProvenceLouis XVI's younger brother; emigrated 1791; declared himself Louis XVIII, King of France in 1795, but did not actually assume the throne until 1814.

Q

R

Jean-François RewbellDeputy; Feuillant; member of the Directory.
Maximilien RobespierreMontagnard; Committee of Public Safety member; prominent during Reign of Terror; guillotined after 9 Thermidor.
Comte de RochambeauSenior general and former commander of French troops during the American Revolution, commander of the Armee du Nord for the Republic; imprisoned during the Reign of Terror but not executed.
Jean-Marie Roland de la PlatièreGirondist; interior minister in 1792; committed suicide in 1793 following his wife's condemnation.
Madame Roland
(Manon-Jeanne Roland, née Philpon)
Jean-Marie Roland's wife; author of influential Revolutionary writings under Roland's name; salonière; guillotined.
Gilbert RommeInitially a Girondist politician, then Montagnard; designed French Republican Calendar; condemned after Girondists' return to power; committed suicide before execution.
Jean-Jacques RousseauEnlightenment political philosopher; influenced Revolutionary thinking.
Jacques RouxHébertist leader of the Enragés faction; member of Paris Commune; arrested during Reign of Terror; committed suicide before trial.

S

Marquis de SadeAuthor of erotica and philosophy; imprisoned on charges of sodomy and poisoning at the outbreak of the Revolution; released 1790; elected to the National Convention; escaped execution during the Reign of Terror.
Jean Bon Saint-AndréMontagnard; Committee of Public Safety member; later became a naval officer and administrator.
Louis Antoine de Saint-JustCommittee of Public Safety member; Montagnard; close associate of Robespierre; prominent in Reign of Terror; guillotined after 9 Thermidor.
Joseph ServanGeneral; Minister of War.
Abbé Emmanuel Joseph SieyèsAlthough a cleric, entered the Estates-General of 1789 as a representative of the Third Estate; author of pamphlet What is the Third Estate?; instigated the 18 Brumaire coup, but outflanked by Bonaparte.
Madame de StaëlDaughter of Jacques Necker; salonière and writer; adopted moderate Revolutionary position; opposed Napoleon.

T

Jean Lambert TallienMontagnard; later a leading Thermidorian.
Madame Tallien
(Thérésa Tallien, née Teresa Cabarrús)
Her moderating influence on her husband Jean Lambert Tallien saved lives in the wake of 9 Thermidor, earning her the moniker Notre-Dame de Thermidor ("Our Lady of Thermidor").
Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord
("Talleyrand")
Clergyman and diplomat; initially a royalist, then revolutionary; co-wrote the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen and the Civil Constitution of the Clergy; survived 9 Thermidor to become Foreign Minister under Directory, Bonaparte and the Bourbon Restoration.
Gui-Jean-Baptiste TargetLawyer and politician; deputy of the Third Estate in the Estates-General of 1789; survived Reign of Terror to become Directory politician.
Jean Baptiste TreilhardDeputy from Paris; held multiple high-ranking offices including Director.

U

V

Pierre Victurnien VergniaudGirondist leader; guillotined.
Bertrand Barère de VieuzacGirondist, then Montagnard; Committee of Public Safety member; drew up 9 Thermidor report outlawing Robespierre; later a Bonapartist.
Voltaire
(François-Marie Arouet)
Enlightenment author and philosopher whose writings influenced Revolutionary thinking.

See also

Further reading

  • Ballard, Richard. A New Dictionary of the French Revolution (2011) excerpt and text search
  • Fremont-Barnes, Gregory, ed. The Encyclopedia of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars: A Political, Social, and Military History (3 vol. 2006)
  • Furet, Francois, et al. eds. A Critical Dictionary of the French Revolution (1989) long articles by scholars excerpt and text search
  • Hanson, Paul R. Historical Dictionary of the French Revolution (2004)
  • Ross, Steven T. Historical Dictionary of the Wars of the French Revolution (1998)
  • Scott, Samuel F. and Barry Rothaus, eds. Historical Dictionary of the French Revolution (2 vol. 1985) full text online
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