Antoine Barnave | |
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Antoine Barnave by Joseph Boze (1791, Carnavalet Museum)
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Member of the Legislative Assembly | |
In office 1 October 1791 – 20 September 1792 |
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Constituency | Isère |
3rd Mayor of Grenoble | |
In office 1 August 1790 – 21 November 1790 |
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Preceded by | Joseph Marie de Barral |
Succeeded by | Daniel d'Isoard |
Member of the Constituent Assembly | |
In office 9 July 1789 – 30 September 1791 |
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Constituency | Grenoble |
Member of the Estates-General for the Third Estate |
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In office 7 January 1789 – 9 July 1789 |
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Constituency | Grenoble |
Personal details | |
Born |
Antoine Pierre Joseph Marie Barnave 22 October 1761 Grenoble, France |
Died | 29 November 1793 Paris, France |
(aged 32)
Nationality | French |
Political party |
Jacobin (1789–1791) Feuillant (1791–1793) |
Parents | Jean-Pierre Barnave and Marie-Louise de Pré de Seigle de Presle |
Alma mater | University of Grenoble |
Profession | Lawyer, writer |
Religion | Calvinism (baptized) |
Antoine Pierre Joseph Marie Barnave (22 October 1761 – 29 November 1793) was a French politician, and, together with Honoré Mirabeau, one of the most influential orators of the early part of the French Revolution. He is most notable for correspondence with Marie Antoinette in an attempt to set up a constitutional monarchy and for being one of the founding members of the Feuillants.
Antoine Barnave was born in Grenoble (Dauphiné), in a Protestant family. His father was a barrister at the Parlement of Grenoble, and his mother, Marie-Louise de Pré de Seigle de Presle, was a highly-educated . Because they were Protestants, Antoine could not attend local schools, as those were run by the Catholic church, and his mother educated him herself. Barnave was prepared for a career in law, and at the age of twenty-two made himself known by a speech pronounced before the local Parlement, the Parlement du Dauphiné, also known as Parlement de Grenoble, on the separation of political powers.
Dauphiné was one of the first of the provinces of France to be touched by revolutionary ideals. After being heavily influenced by the Day of the Tiles (French: Journée des Tuiles) in Grenoble, Barnave became actively revolutionary. He explained his political position in a pamphlet entitled Esprit des édits, Enregistrés militairement, le 20 mai 1788. He was immediately elected deputy, with his father, to the Estates General of Dauphiné, and played a prominent role in their debates.
A few months later he became better known, when the Estates-General of 1789 convened in Versailles on 5 May 1789, and Barnave was chosen to be a deputy of the Third Estate for his native province of Dauphiné.