François Hanriot

Lore & Background

François Hanriot was born in Nanterre, a western suburb of Paris, to parents who were servants (gardeners) to a former Treasurer of France. Between 1779 and 1783 he supposedly served as a soldier in America under Lafayette, but no documents prove this. He held a variety of jobs—secretary, tax clerk, shopkeeper, liquor-seller, peddler—but was often dismissed or unemployed. After being arrested and imprisoned in Bicêtre for leaving his post on the night of 12 July 1789, he was released the next year with the help of Jean-Paul Marat.

In January 1792, Hanriot became known for his anti-aristocratic outlook and for attacking Lafayette. He became an orator for his local sans-culottes section. On 9 August 1792, he was among the commissionaires who gathered at the town hall; the next day the Tuileries was stormed. On 2 September he was appointed captain of the National Guard battalion of his section. It is unlikely he participated in the September Massacre, though according to Cassignac his men were involved at Bicêtre. In the evening of 30 May 1793, the Commune appointed him provisional Commandant-General of the Parisian National Guard. He ordered his troops to surround the Convention, and on 2 June 1793, under armed pressure, the Convention voted the arrest of 22 Girondist deputies. Marat and Couthon regarded Hanriot as the 'Savior of the Fatherland.' On 11 June he resigned, but was reelected on 29 June and on 1 July was elected by the Commune, later appointed permanent commander of the armed forces of Paris.

During the spring of 1794, tensions rose between Robespierre and the Committees and the Paris Commune. Hanriot, a Hébertist, was protected by Robespierre. On 27 July 1794, Hanriot tried to release Robespierre, who had been arrested by the Convention. He was executed the next day, 28 July 1794, by the rules of the law of 22 Prairial, only verifying his identity at the trial.

Reader's Guide

François Hanriot's significance lies in his central role during the insurrection that led to the fall of the Girondins in June 1793, a turning point in the French Revolution. As commander of the National Guard, he used armed force to pressure the Convention into arresting 22 Girondist deputies, effectively ending their political power. His actions were praised by Marat and Couthon as saving the fatherland, though some historians note his troops maintained discipline and avoided bloodshed. Hanriot's later loyalty to Robespierre, culminating in his failed attempt to free him on 27 July 1794, led to his own execution the next day. His legacy is tied to the radical sans-culotte movement and the use of military force to achieve political ends during the Reign of Terror. The article notes uncertainty about his early military service and his involvement in the September Massacre, reflecting the contested nature of his biography.

Did You Know?

• Hanriot was born in Nanterre, now a western suburb of Paris, to parents who were servants (gardeners).
• He was arrested and imprisoned in Bicêtre after leaving his tax post on the night of 12 July 1789, and released the next year with the help of Jean-Paul Marat.
• On 2 June 1793, Hanriot's troops surrounded the Convention with thousands of armed volunteers, cannons, and pikes, leading to the arrest of 22 Girondist deputies.
• He was executed on 28 July 1794 alongside Robespierre, Saint-Just, and Georges Couthon, with only his identity verified at trial.