Jacques Pierre Brissot

Lore & Background

Born in Chartres, Brissot trained as a law clerk, but acquired notoriety as a radical writer and journalist, winning the approval of Voltaire for his writings on the philosophy of law. He collaborated on the Mercure de France and the Courier de l'Europe, which sympathized with the insurgents in the American colonies. In February 1788, Brissot founded the anti-slavery Society of the Friends of the Blacks. With the outbreak of the revolution in July 1789, he became one of its most vocal supporters. As a member of the Legislative Assembly, Brissot advocated for war against Austria and other European powers in order to secure France's revolutionary gains, which led to the War of the First Coalition in 1792. He voted against the immediate execution of Louis XVI which made him unpopular with the Montagnards. He was friendly with Jean-Paul Marat, but in 1793 they were the greatest enemies. On 3 April 1793, Maximilien Robespierre declared in the Convention that the whole war was a prepared game between Dumouriez and Brissot to overthrow the First French Republic. Conflicts with Robespierre, who accused him of royalism, eventually brought about his downfall. On 8 October, the Convention decided to arrest Brissot. Like Madame Roland and Pétion, Brissot was accused of organising (or taking part in) conspicuous dinners. At the end of October 1793, he was guillotined along with 28 other Girondins by Charles-Henri Sanson.

Reader's Guide

Brissot was born in Chartres, the 13th child of a wealthy traiteur; nine of his siblings died at infancy. Alongside his elder brother he was placed under the care of an uncle, residing in the countryside as priest. In 1762 he entered college, studying Latin and developing an admiration for the works of Voltaire, Diderot, and Rousseau. He began his tenure as a law clerk in 1769, initially in Chartres and later, from 1774, at the Parlement of Paris. In 1777 Madame du Barry introduced him to Voltaire. In the same year he briefly visited London upon invitation. He relocated to Boulogne-sur-Mer when he was appointed editor of Courier de l'Europe, a periodical that did not do well and failed. He decided to 'anglicize' his last name by appending 'Warville', after Ouarville, where his mother owned property. Brissot inherited a substantial amount of livres when his father died. In 1780 he moved to Reims to complete his studies. His initial literary endeavors included Théorie des lois criminelles (1781) and Bibliothèque philosophique du législateur (1782). During a month-long stay with the affluent sugar and coffee planter Pierre-Alexandre DuPeyrou, Brissot found himself immersed in intellectual discourse. Brissot sent a summary to Voltaire, who praised his style and energy in a letter. In June he paid a visit to Clavière in Geneva. In September he married Félicité Dupont, the governess of the Duke of Chartres. Brissot visited London where he got engaged in establishing an Academy of Arts and Sciences; he lived at Newman Street with his wife and younger brother. In the preface of Théorie des lois criminelles, a plea for penal reform, Brissot explains that he submitted an outline of the book to Voltaire and quotes his answer from 13 April 1778. Brissot had a falling out with Catholicism, and wrote about his disagreements with the church's hierarchical system. Brissot became known as a writer and journalist who was engaged on the Mercure de France, the Courier de l'Europe and other facilitating the distribution of libelles. His newspaper Journal du Lycée de Londres was to be the organ of this commercial enterprise starting at Pall Mall in January 1784. He was in conflict with Charles Théveneau de Morande. The plan was unsuccessful and Brissot lost his investments. In May he was arrested and put in jail at Gray's Inn Road; a friend paid the printer for the prospectus. So

Did You Know?

• Brissot voted against the immediate execution of Louis XVI, which made him unpopular with the Montagnards.
• He was friendly with Jean-Paul Marat, but in 1793 they were the greatest enemies.
• Brissot founded the anti-slavery Society of the Friends of the Blacks in February 1788.
• He was guillotined along with 28 other Girondins at the end of October 1793.

Notable Quotes (Wikiquote)

"La propriété exclusive est un vol dans la nature." — Jacques Pierre Brissot "Exclusive property is a theft against nature." — Jacques Pierre Brissot "Quoted in Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations (1922), p. 615." — Jacques Pierre Brissot "It is less difficult for a woman to obtain celebrity by her genius than to be forgiven for it." — Jacques Pierre Brissot