French politician and journalist
Louis-Marie Stanislas Freron
(17 August 1754 ? 15 July 1802) was a French politician, journalist, representative to the National Assembly, and a
representative on mission
during the
French Revolution
.
Background
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The son of
Elie-Catherine Freron
, he was born in
Paris
to a wealthy family. His father was a prominent journalist and popular opponent of the
philosophes
and
encyclopedistes
, his most notable opponent being Voltaire (who openly considered Elie his enemy), and it is surmised that his father's history of conflict with the state over freedom of the press heavily influenced Louis Freron's political views. He attended the
Lycee Louis-le-Grand
, where his father held a faculty position, together with the likes of
Maximilien Robespierre
and
Camille Desmoulins
. On the death of his father, he inherited
L'Annee litteraire
, which was continued until 1795 and edited successively by the
abbe Royou
and
Julien Louis Geoffroy
.
[1]
Early Revolutionary activities
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Though due to legal obligations he still had some affiliation with
L'Annee litteraire
, Freron took up writing and editing his paper
L'Orateur du Peuple
. In it, he wrote radical denunciations of counter-revolutionaries much like those written by
Jean-Paul Marat
and
Camille Desmoulins
, and in fact the three of them aided each other in editing their papers. His first real taste of rabble-rousing came in the form of collaboration with
Desmoulins
to incite the storming of the Bastille.
Soon after, he was elected as representative to the
Bonne-Nouvelle district
of the newly formed
Paris Commune
, where it seems he was minimally active before returning to his role as a journalist. He acted as a collaborator for
L’Ami des citoyens
for a brief period before starting his own paper
L'Orateur du Peuple
, under the pseudonym Martel, which consisted of 8 pages and was distributed every other day, with
Marcel Enfantin
serving as editor. Aside from his writings in his paper, he openly collaborated with
Marat
and agreed to fund and write half of
Desmoulins
paper.
In June 1790, Marcel Enfantin was arrested for "provable conspiracy against liberty" because the authorities believed him to be Martel. In response, Freron wrote:
- Citizens, can you believe it? The Orateur du peuple is in chains! He had only taken up the pen in defense of your rights, he was a dynamic writer of the most ardent patriotism…he fought the ministerial hydra with a club, and the aristocracy with ridicule…Well, the Municipality has slandered [his] intentions…it has poisoned his innocent phrases…[but] the voice the Orateur du peuple will pierce the vaults of his prison…the articles of the Rights of Man were made to be used by this French citizen…so that he may publish his opinions.
Also, Freron's relationship with Desmoulins brought him to the cause of the
Cordeliers
and prompted his involvement with the
attack on Tuileries palace
of 1792 (the insurrection of the Paris crowds against the
House of Bourbon
, and their battle with the
Swiss Guards
).
[1]
In September, Freron was elected to the
National Convention
for the
departement
of
Seine
, and voted in favor of
Louis XVI
's execution. Freron served as a
Representant en mission
to
Provence
,
Marseilles
, and
Toulon
between 1793 and 1794 together with
Paul Barras
.
Siege of Toulon
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He was charged with establishing the Convention's authority in the south during the
Toulon rebellion
. Freron remained infamous as an enforcer of the
Reign of Terror
but came into contact with
Napoleon Bonaparte
, still just a young artillery officer, who had been stationed there.
Augustin Robespierre
and
Antoine Christophe Saliceti
, two representatives on mission, responded favourably to Napoleon's request (bypassing his commander,
Jean Francois Carteaux
) to seize the peninsula fort from the British and install artillery on a promontory overlooking the bay in order to fire on the British fleet at anchor. An infantry attack led by Bonaparte was repelled, due chiefly to Carteaux lowering the number of men allocated to Napoleon for the attack. Freron, despite quarrelling with Bonaparte and threatening him with execution, eventually gave him his backing against Carteaux. He subsequently attempted to curtail Napoleon's career by insuring he would not command another larger attack on the British fort that was being planned, posting him to command the reserves instead. However, as this new attack faltered, Napoleon led the reserves forward without orders and seized the British fort.
Napoleon had previously introduced Freron to his sister
Pauline Bonaparte
with whom he had a relationship until Pauline was married off to General
Charles Leclerc
in 1797.
Reaction and the Directory
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Nonetheless, both he and Barras joined the
Thermidorian Reaction
in its clash with Robespierre;
L'Orateur du Peuple
became the mouthpiece of anti-
Jacobins
, and Freron incited the
Muscadins
to attack the
sans-culottes
with
clubs
. He brought about the accusation of
Antoine Fouquier-Tinville
, and of
Jean-Baptiste Carrier
, and the arrest of the last
Montagnards
. Being sent by the
Directory
on a mission of peace to Marseilles he published in 1796
Memoire historique sur la reaction royale et sur les malheurs du midi
("Historical Dissertation on the Royalist Reaction and the Misfortunes of the South").
He was elected to the
Council of the Five Hundred
, but not allowed to take his seat. Failing as suitor for the hand of
Pauline Bonaparte
, in 1801 he was sent by Napoleon, now first consul, to
Saint Domingue
and died there from
yellow fever
in 1802.
General
Charles Leclerc
, who had married Pauline Bonaparte, also received a command in Saint Domingue in 1801 (during the last stage of the
Haitian Revolution
), and died the same year.
See also
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References
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