Jean-Paul Rabaut Saint-Étienne

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Jean-Paul Rabaut Saint-Étienne (1743 - December 5, 1793) was a French revolutionist.

[edit] Biography

He was born at Nîmes, the son of Paul Rabaut, the additional surname of Saint-Étienne being assumed from a small property near Nîmes.

Like his father, he became a pastor, and distinguished himself by his zeal for his co-religionists, working energetically to obtain the recognition of the civil rights which had been granted to them by Louis XVI in 1788. Having gained a great reputation by his Histoire primitive de la Grèce, he was elected deputy to the States General in 1789 by the third estate of the bailliage of Nîmes.

In the Constituent Assembly he worked on the framing of the constitution, spoke against the establishment of the republic, which he considered ridiculous, and voted for the suspensive veto, as likely to strengthen the position of the crown. In the Convention he sat among the Girondists, opposed the trial of Louis XVI, was a member of the commission of twelve, and was proscribed with his party.

He remained in hiding for some time, but was ultimately discovered and guillotined in the December 1793.

[edit] References

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.