author
Marie-Jean Hérault de Séchelles
1759–1794
A brilliant young magistrate who embraced the French Revolution, he rose quickly into its inner circle and helped draft one of its boldest constitutions. His life ended just as dramatically, at the guillotine during the struggle that consumed many of the Revolution's own leaders.
1 Audiobook
Voyage à Montbard
by Marie-Jean Hérault de Séchelles
About the author
Born in Paris in 1759 into a distinguished noble family, Marie-Jean Hérault de Séchelles was educated for public life and became known early as a gifted magistrate. Contemporary accounts remembered him as charming, intelligent, and ambitious, with a talent for moving easily through elite society even as France was heading toward upheaval.
When the Revolution began, he joined the new political order and became an active figure in national politics. He served in the Legislative Assembly and then in the National Convention, where he aligned with the Montagnards. He was part of the Committee of Public Safety in 1793 and is especially remembered for helping prepare the Constitution of 1793, an important revolutionary document that promised broad democratic rights, even though it was never fully put into effect.
Hérault de Séchelles also wrote, including a travel piece inspired by a visit to the naturalist Buffon. But like many revolutionaries, he was eventually swept up by the violence of the period. Arrested during the conflict surrounding Georges Danton and his allies, he was executed in Paris on April 5, 1794, at just 34 years old.