French writer and author of the Manifesto of the Equals
A radical writer of the revolutionary era whose 1796 Manifesto of the Equals demanded real equality and community of property beyond equality in law.
A French writer who also worked as a lawyer and librarian, Maréchal wrote the 1796 Manifesto of the Equals. It demanded equality in everyday life and common enjoyment of property, beyond equality written into law. Although associated with Babeuf’s movement, the text is Maréchal’s work. Its formulations should not all be treated as the leadership’s agreed programme or as enacted policy. It helps trace connections, as well as differences, between revolutionary egalitarianism and later socialism.
Career timeline
- 1770Appointed assistant librarian at the Mazarin Library in Paris, where he built his classical erudition.
- 1788His Almanach des Honnêtes Gens was condemned to be burned by the Parlement of Paris, and he was imprisoned for three months; afterwards he published anonymously.
- 1790–1792As chief editor of Révolutions de Paris he led an anticlerical campaign and published articles opposing the war.
- 1793–1796Met Babeuf and wrote the 1796 Manifesto of the Equals, sitting on the conspiracy's secret directorate of public safety.
- 1801Proposed a bill forbidding the teaching of reading to women; his De la vertu appeared posthumously in 1807.
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.
Advocate of substantive equality in the Conspiracy of the Equals
Born François-Noël Babeuf; a journalist who judged the Revolution's legal equality powerless against poverty and property inequality, he led the 1796 Conspiracy of the Equals against the Directory, was arrested and executed in 1797.
Born François-Noël Babeuf, he was a journalist and activist during the French Revolution who challenged inequalities of property and living conditions beyond legal equality. He participated in the 1796 Conspiracy of the Equals against the Directory, was arrested and was executed in 1797. Sylvain Maréchal wrote the Manifesto of the Equals; it is neither a text authored by Babeuf nor a record of enacted policy. Later socialists received and transformed this legacy rather than simply inheriting an unchanged doctrine.
Career timeline
- 1789Drafted the first article of the electors' cahier at Roye, demanding the abolition of feudal rights.
- 1794Published Le Tribun du peuple, defending the Thermidorians while attacking the Revolution's economic outcome.
- 1796Took part in the Conspiracy of the Equals; the plot was disclosed in May and he was arrested on 10 May.
- 1797Tried before the high court at Vendôme, convicted, and executed with his associates.
Enragé activist who championed section assemblies and direct democracy
Enragé who linked subsistence riots and section politics to the removal of the Girondins; a deputy in the 1792 National Convention.
A former postal employee and Paris section activist, Varlet joined the Enragés in pressing subsistence demands and direct democracy. He participated in the insurrection of 31 May–2 June 1793 that removed the Girondins. He later criticized the revolutionary government for suppressing popular sovereignty and was repeatedly arrested.
Career timeline
- 1789–1792In the Revolution's early years he wrote patriotic songs, campaigned by petition against the king's flight and for his deposition, and took part in popular mobilisation in the Paris sections.
- 1792After the Legislative Assembly suspended the king and called elections for a National Convention to write a new constitution, he was elected a deputy and argued for direct universal suffrage and the recall of elected officials.
- 1793He joined the Parisian poor's demands for price controls on 22 February, was arrested on 24 May and released three days later, then sat on the nine-member insurrectionary committee formed by section delegates on 29 May, which led the insurrection of 31 May to 2 June.
- 1793–1795Arrested again at the start of the Terror and released on 29 October 1793, he was arrested once more after the fall of Robespierre and spent almost a year in prison.
- after 1800After his release he settled at Pailly in the Yonne, married and had three children; from 1800 he supported Bonaparte and lived for a time in Nantes.
- 1830–1837He returned to Paris for several months in 1830 to take part in the July Revolution; in 1836 he left Nantes for Corbeil-Essonnes, where he drowned the following year.
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.
