Collot d'Herbois, Jean Marie

Collot d'Herbois, Jean Marie (zhäN märē' kōlō' derbwä') [key], 1750–96, French revolutionary, originally an actor and playwright. Although a member of his Jacobin club, he favored a constitutional monarch. His Almanach du Père Gérard (1791) was criticized for its royalist tinge, although its patriotism won a competition sponsored by the Jacobins. He was a member of the revolutionary Commune of Paris and his politics became increasingly militant. Elected to the National Convention (Sept., 1792), he became identified as a supporter of Jacques René Hébert and favored the elimination of the Girondists. In Sept., 1793, he was appointed to the Committee of Public Safety, which suppressed the counterrevolutionary attempts at Lyons in a blood bath. Although he turned against Robespierre on 9 Thermidor (July 27, 1794), he fell in the Thermidorian reaction and was deported to French Guiana.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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