Hébertist general who commanded the Parisian Revolutionary Army
Appointed commander of the Parisian Revolutionary Army in September 1793, he was arrested with Hébert, Vincent, Momoro and others in March 1794 and executed on 24 March.
Born in Soissons, Ronsin served in the army as a young man and after leaving it lived as a playwright and tutor. During the Revolution he became an orator of the Cordeliers Club; in 1793 he took charge of a department of Bouchotte’s War Ministry, was sent to the Vendée and was rapidly promoted to general. In September that year he became commander of the Parisian Revolutionary Army and in November led a detachment to the repression at Lyon. In the course he appears among the Hébertists arrested in March 1794 with Hébert, Vincent, Momoro and others and executed on 24 March. The charge of a military plot built on the Revolutionary Army was the prosecution’s case and should be read as such. The Revolutionary Army was disbanded days after his execution.
Career timeline
- 1772Left the army and worked as a playwright and tutor.
- 1792Appointed supply commissioner to Dumouriez’s army in Belgium.
- 1793Took charge of a department of Bouchotte’s War Ministry in April, was sent to the Vendée in May and was promoted to general in July.
- 1793Became commander of the Parisian Revolutionary Army in September and led a detachment to Lyon in November.
- 1793–1794Arrested on 17 December and released on 2 February after a Cordeliers campaign.
- 1794Re-arrested with the Hébertists in March and executed on 24 March.
Cordelier printer who spread the motto “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity”
As a member of the Paris departmental directory he and Mayor Pache had a motto including “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity or death” inscribed on the façades of public buildings.
A printer and bookseller from Besançon, Momoro became a master in the Paris printers’ guild in 1787 and, once the Revolution began, styled himself “the first printer of national liberty.” As secretary and a leading orator of the Cordeliers Club he printed and circulated its resolutions and posters, and after the flight to Varennes he argued for the king’s deposition. As a member of the Paris departmental directory he and Mayor Pache had a motto containing “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity” inscribed on public buildings. In 1793 he assisted Ronsin in the Vendée and helped lead the Festival of Reason in November, a leading figure of dechristianization. In the course he appears among the Hébertists arrested in March 1794 and executed on 24 March.
Career timeline
- 1787Admitted as a master to the Paris printers’ guild.
- 1791Elected secretary of the Cordeliers Club, drafting and circulating its resolutions and posters; after Varennes he argued for the king’s deposition.
- 1793As a member of the Paris departmental directory, had the motto with “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity” inscribed on public buildings together with Mayor Pache.
- 1793Assisted Ronsin in the Vendée from May and led the Festival of Reason on 10 November.
- 1794Arrested with the Hébertists in March and executed on 24 March.
Revolutionary journalist whose Le Père Duchesne spoke to a sans-culotte readership
Founder of Le Père Duchesne, which became the voice of the Parisian sans-culottes, and a leading figure behind the fall of the Girondins in 1793; pressed radical dechristianisation, was arrested with his followers in March 1794 and guillotined on 24 March.
A journalist of the French Revolution and deputy prosecutor of the Paris Commune. The earthy, popular language of Le Père Duchesne, founded in 1790, gave him influence among sans-culotte readers and he became prominent in the Cordeliers Club. In 1793 he attacked the Girondins and supported stronger economic controls and dechristianisation. The “Hébertists” were not a formal party but a label for overlapping newspaper, Cordelier, and Commune networks. After a failed call for insurrection, revolutionary government arrested him and he was executed on 24 March 1794.
Career timeline
- 1790Founded the popular revolutionary newspaper Le Père Duchesne
- 1791–1792Prominent Cordelier; deputy prosecutor of the Paris Commune
- 1793Attacked the Girondins and backed sans-culotte demands and dechristianisation
- 1794.03Arrested after a failed call for insurrection; executed on 24 March
Cordelier and Hébertist who served as secretary-general of the War Ministry
As secretary-general of the War Ministry he filled its offices with radical patriots; arrested with the Hébertists in March 1794, he was executed on 24 March.
The son of a Paris prison concierge, Vincent worked as a lawyer’s clerk. An early member of the Cordeliers Club, where he served as secretary, he entered the General Council of the Paris Commune after the rising of 10 August 1792. In April 1793 he became secretary-general of the War Ministry under Bouchotte and filled its offices with radical patriots. Arrested in December 1793 and freed the following February, he joined the Hébertist campaign against the Indulgents and the revolutionary government. In the course he appears among those arrested in March 1794 with Hébert, Ronsin, Momoro and others and executed on 24 March. No material evidence was produced for the conspiracy charges against them.
Career timeline
- 1792Entered the General Council of the Paris Commune after 10 August, replacing Fabre d’Églantine.
- 1793Appointed secretary-general of the War Ministry under Bouchotte in April.
- 1793–1794Arrested on 17 December on the orders of the Committee of General Security; released on 2 February.
- 1794Re-arrested with Hébert on 14 March and executed on 24 March.
