Historical Figure
Louis Antoine de Saint-Just
d. 1794
French revolutionary politician (1767–1794)
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Biography
Louis Antoine Léon de Saint-Just, sometimes nicknamed the Archangel of Terror, was a French revolutionary, political philosopher, member and president of the French National Convention, a Jacobin club leader, and a major figure of the French Revolution. The youngest person elected to the National Convention, he was a member of the Mountain faction and a steadfast supporter and close friend of Robespierre. He was swept away in Robespierre's downfall on 9 Thermidor, Year II.
Timeline
The story of Louis Antoine de Saint-Just, told in moments.
Elected to the National Convention at 25, the youngest deputy. Too young to have served in the earlier assemblies. He'd written to Robespierre as a fan. Now he sits beside him.
Delivers the speech condemning Louis XVI. "One cannot reign innocently." The line lands. He argues the king should be tried not as a citizen but as an enemy. The Convention votes for execution.
Authors the Ventose Decrees, proposing to confiscate property from enemies of the Revolution and redistribute it to the poor. The most radical economic legislation of the Revolution. It's never fully implemented.
Guillotined alongside Robespierre in the Thermidorian Reaction. He was 26. He'd tried to give a speech to the Convention that morning. They shouted him down. He said nothing on the scaffold.
In Their Own Words (20)
The French people recognize the Supreme Being and the immortality of the soul. The first day of every month is to be dedicated to the eternal.
Fragment 10 (1794). [Source: Saint-Just, Fragments sur les institutions républicaines], 1794
I despise the dust that forms me and speaks to you. This dust you may persecute and kill, but I defy you to rob me of that independent life I have given myself down through the ages and in the heavens....
Je méprise la poussière qui me compose et qui vous parle ; on pourra la persécuter et faire mourir cette poussière ! mais je défie que l’on m’arrache cette vie indépendante que je me suis donnée dans les siècles et dans les cieux..., 1794
What produces the general good is always terrible or seems bizarre when begun too soon ... The Revolution must stop itself at the perfection of public happiness and liberty through the laws.
Fragment 3 (1794). [Source: Saint-Just, Fragments sur les institutions républicaines], 1794
In every Revolution a dictator is needed to save the state by force, or censors to save it by virtue.
Fragment 13 (1794). [Source: Saint-Just, Fragments sur les institutions républicaines], 1794
The Revolution is frozen; all its principles are weakened; there remains only red caps worn by intriguers. The exercise of terror has made crime blasé, as strong liquors made the palace blasé.
Fragment 3 (1794). [Source: Saint-Just, Fragments sur les institutions républicaines], 1794
Artifacts (13)
the most generous, large-hearted being in the world. He also was the most deligh...
He returned to Paris in 1864. English playwright Watts Phillips, who knew Dumas in his later life, described him as "the most generous, large-hearted being in the world. He also was the most...
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