Feuillant politician and advocate of judicial reform
One third of the triumvirate of which the Assembly said, “What Duport thinks, Barnave says, Lameth does”, he led the 1791 Feuillant split, arguing the Revolution was over and the constitutional order should be stabilised.
A magistrate and National Assembly deputy, Duport promoted jury trial and criminal-justice reform. He formed the “triumvirate” with Barnave and Lameth and helped organize the Feuillants in 1791. After the monarchy fell in 1792 he went into exile and died in Switzerland.
Also known as: Adrien Jean François Duport
Activities and affiliations
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1789–1791
Political and party leadership
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FeuillantsMain
Political and party leadership
Career Timeline
- 1778Admitted as an advocate in the Parlement de Paris, and appointed a councillor in that same parlement, remaining in office until 1790.
- 1787–1788Founded the "Parti des nationaux" in 1787, demanding that the Estates-General be convened, and in 1788 organised the Société des Trente against the distinction between the three orders.
- 1789Elected deputy for the Paris nobility to the Estates-General on 13 May; in late June joined the Third Estate among the 47 liberal nobles.
- 1789–1791Formed the "triumvirate" with Barnave and Alexandre de Lameth in the Constituent Assembly, and as rapporteur of the criminal jurisprudence committee advanced the reform of the judiciary (report of 29 March 1790) and the introduction of the jury (8 February 1791); presided over the Assembly from 14 to 26 February 1791.
- 1791Led the Feuillant split in July, was the chief architect of the decree of 27 September granting full emancipation to the Jews, and took part in the 24 September revocation of the rights of free men of colour.
- 1792After the fall of the monarchy on 10 August he left his post as president of the criminal tribunal of the Seine, was arrested, then released and fled into exile via England and Switzerland.
- 1798Forced abroad again after the 18 Fructidor coup (4 September 1797), he died of tuberculosis at Gais in Switzerland.
Related historical events
Revolutionary choices and political context
Duport transferred knowledge gained as a magistrate of the old regime into advocacy of jury trial and criminal-justice reform. Revolution concerned not only abolishing privilege but also who would judge and by what procedure people could be punished. His triumvirate with Barnave and Lameth combined institutional reform with a bid for leadership in the Assembly.
The Feuillant turn of 1791 reflected fear of the Revolution’s pace and popular mobilisation. He went into exile after the fall of monarchy and, unlike some Feuillants, was not executed; yet the constitutional order his reforms anticipated did not survive. His career shows how revolutionaries who spoke of legality and liberty could divide sharply over social conflict and the monarchy.