Saint-Just, Louis de (lwē` də săN-zhüst`), 1767–94, French revolutionary. A member of the Convention from 1792, he became a favorite of Maximilien Robespierre and was (1793–94) a leading member of the Committee of Public Safety (see Reign of Terror Reign of Terror, 1793–94, period of the French Revolution characterized by a wave of executions of presumed enemies of the state. Directed by the Committee of Public Safety, the Revolutionary government's Terror was essentially a war dictatorship, instituted to
..... Click the link for more information. ). As commissioner (1793) with the army of the Rhine, he contributed to the successful operations that drove the allies beyond the French border. On his return he served as president of the Convention. He supported Robespierre in the destruction of the Hébertists and Dantonists (see Hébert, Jacques René Hébert, Jacques René (zhäk rənā` ābĕr`), 1757–94, French journalist and revolutionary.
..... Click the link for more information. ; Danton, Georges Jacques Danton, Georges Jacques (zhōrzh zhäk däNtôN`)
..... Click the link for more information. ); in doctrinaire interpretation of Rousseau's political teachings he was more radically idealistic than Robespierre. Saint-Just believed fanatically in the perfect state, based on rigorous Spartan virtue, and brooked no opposition to this political philosophy. During the coup of 9 Thermidor Thermidor (thûr`mĭdôr, Fr. tĕrmēdôr`), 11th month of the French Revolutionary calendar .
..... Click the link for more information. (1794), which overthrew Robespierre and other members of the Committee of Public Safety, Saint-Just was prevented from delivering a speech in defense of Robespierre. Saint-Just's arrest was ordered, and he was guillotined with Robespierre.

Bibliography

See biographies by G. Bruun (1932, repr. 1966), E. N. Curtis (1935, repr. 1973), and B. Vinot (1985).

Saint-Just, Louis (-Antoine-Léon) de

Louis de Saint-Just, portrait after a red chalk drawing by Christophe Guérin, 1793.

(credit: Courtesy of the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris)

(born Aug. 25, 1767, Decize, France—died July 28, 1794, Paris) French Revolutionary leader. In support of the French Revolution, he wrote the radical Esprit de la révolution et de la constitution de France (1791) and was elected to the National Convention in 1792. A close associate of Maximilien Robespierre and a member of the Committee of Public Safety, he was elected president of the Convention in 1793 and sponsored the Ventôse (March) Decrees, which confiscated property of the Revolution's enemies and redistributed it to the poor. He led the victorious attack against the Austrians at Fleurus (in modern Belgium). A fanatical leader of the Reign of Terror, he was arrested in the Thermidorian Reaction and guillotined.