revolution_fr | Sep. 30th, 2008

Hi, people! Do you remember that Fatimah had said it could be great if I would write a little account about “my” Hanriot, as well as we have already done for Billaud –Varenne? Well: here I am! This is my little notice about the Commandant General of National Guard.

François Hanriot was born December 3 ,1761 (most likely. Other authors saids it was 1759) in Nanterre (Seine), a little village near Paris that nowadays is incorporated to the capital. His father was Pierre Hanriot, a former propietary peasant from Bourgogne who was runed to the time their children were born and was working as a servant (domestique) for a procureur of Paris Parliament, Monsieur Formey (or Formé), who had a property in Nanterre. His mother, Marguerite Davoine, was a cook at the same house. François had an elder sister, named Cécile, who later married to a certain Monsieur Lassus, who was Hanriot’s friend. It seems that Hanriot worked since his early childhood as a servant for the Formey’s too, but since his master seems to have discovered that the boy was bright enough, he send him to study to a Parochial School, in which he was an excelent student. This is just the opposite image we all have of Hanriot, a character depicted by some authors (pro Girondins...ahem...ahem...) as brutal, stupid and without any instruction . He had a so great performance at school that his master took thre lad as a clerk to work along with him. Now , we have Hanriot in Paris, “Rue de l’Observance”. It seems he was living with M. Formey. Since then, we have him living at the capital. He worked as a clerk for M. Formey until there was some troubles between them . When anyone knews nothing about Hanriot, pro-girondin authors said he was expelled by his master for being a robber; now, it’ must likely he had some big discussion with him, and talked back roughly to M. Formey. Then he saw himself expelled from his work , without money and alone in Paris. But since he was a fighter, he undertake all the jobs he could: he was a wine and liquor seller (his image of drunkard may come from there ;D ), he worked as a seller of clothes travelling from little village to little village near Paris, he hold a shop, and he eventually was a musician at the “foires” of the time; he also would sing there, and he had a great, very imposant voice. Finally, he found a better job as a “commis à l’octroi” (custom –home officer) at the “barrières” of Paris. He was very well payed, and even had his own bureau. It was at this moment when he purchased a little house at Battoir street, but later he seems to have sell it and purchase another at De la Clef street. This one still stands. He was an owner, then , and not a poor work man, as girondin legend told us.

It was then , when Hanriot enters in history. At July 13, 1789, by night, there was some troubles and riots at the custom-house. It seems that people exiged bread. Hanriot, who had a rather strong personnality, doesn’t keep working and join the riot...plus, he put fire to his own bureau!!! He was tok prisonner and brought to Bicêtre’s prison, in which he was whiped and marqued in fire, like Mrs de La Motte. He spent two years there, until he was freed , because Marat himself undertook a campaign at the “L’Ami du Peuple” in his favor, saying that all that Hanriot had done was “a patriotic work”...Until tday, historians doesn’t know why Marat was so interested in Hanriot, a man who was abslutely not know and that even after being out of Bicêtre will remain almost an unknown until 20 Juin 1792. Few days after he was freed, Hanriot went to the “Autel de la Patrie” to ask Luis XVI dismission, and was one of the men who must hide himself after the Champ-de-Mars Massacre. We don’t know what was his job these days of 1791, since he had been expelled from the custom-huse, and this kind f work doesn’t exist any more, any way. Some months later, he appears as “secretaire greffier” from Jacobin Club of Jardin des Plantes, his section. He was one of the popular sectionnaire leaders who prepared 20 June journey, and certainly also worked actively at the preparation of August 10. He was very popular, and people loved him. He presented the motion to change the name of his section t the one of “Sans-Culottes” and it was aproved. After Lazowski’s death, he was almost the “chief” of this section. However, it remains somewhat in the dark, why was he designed as Commandant General of Paris National Guard May 31 1793. It seems that Marat liked him a lot. He did well his job of expelling Girondins from Convention, any way, and if he was charged provisionally as Commandant General, he remained at his post until 9 Thermidor. He wanted to keep his civil life and presented his dismission to the Commune the 3th. June, but the dismisal was refused. In July 1793 there were general elections at the sections and he won over Raffet, the moderate candidate to the Commandant job. Then Hanriot remained the Commandant of National Guard for good.

He lived at the Hotel-de –Ville in a room-bureau somewhat weird...It seems that the whole decoration of the room was excentric. Lenôtre, who had read the inventary of it said he lived like a “gipsy”. His clothes were very dandy-ish and he loved the “dentelles”, and the nice jabots. He was also very tidy: he bathed all days, he rased his beard until his face will be red and will pour a cascade of eau-de-toilette over himself, to the point one could follow him by his eau-de-cologne smell. He even has a “bidet” in his room. He was a jolly guy who loved to go to the “Opéra-Comique”, to sing and to drink some champagne glass time to time. He has a lot of friends, and some of them were his aide-de-camp. Of course, his ennemies ould said he had “a court” like in Versailles. But this jolly guy was also a very hard worker and a sincere revolutionnary . His behaviour at the hard 1793 winter avoided that the riots for famine would turn badly for revolutionnary authorites. His “daily commands”, all published by “The Oridanary General Service” are well known by historians and some of them could be read with a great interest by people interested in knowing revolutinnary mentallity. They appears in Taine’s book (“Origines de la France Contemporaine”) in Hamel’s “Robespierre” and “Thermidor” and over all things n a monumental work of Dauban: “ La démagogie à Paris in 1794; Histoirede la rue”). Some of them remains unpublished at Paris National Archives. These “commands” are a great mix of sappyness, Rousseau theories (Hanriot had Rousseau complete works at home, by the way) and revolutionnary fire. (I will translate some later to you to see). In them, he shows a religious faith in revolutionnary way of life and a devotion to the “vertue” and an hilarious sentimentalism. He had been near to Hébert, but after the religious scandals over “reason cult” , he become an ardent Robespierriste. Almost a fanatic. Ennemies began to call him “la bourique à Robespierre” (Robespierre’s donkey) and would also said when speaking about a thin person: “He is so thin as Rbespierre’s donkey”...Yes; in the opposite of what some authors tells us and that we’ve seen at Heffron’s movie, Hanriot was not a fat, shouting giant: he was a little, nervous , thin guy, with red hair and beatiful blue eyes. He was, certainly sappy and sweet, but could also turn into a spitfire when he finally will become angry at something. He was famous for his stormy anger attacks. But when those would go away, he would forgive the person to which he was angry.

Before 9 of Thermidor, he offered Robespierre his troops, to do somewhat the same kind of job he did at 31 May-2 June 1793. Robespierre doesn’t said yes, nor “no”, but there is proof that Hanriot was calling regiments to attack the Convention. He was one of the first Robespierrist (along with his Etat-Major”) to have been asked to arrest the 9 Thermidor session. Billaud-Varenne was the first one to ask it. He was arrested, indeed, when he was trying to get into Committée of General Security, but was freed by Coffinhal...Why didn’t he go t the Convention to “do his job” as he had promissed to Robespierre? We don’t know why he choose to go to the Hotel-de-Ville and condamn himself (and Robespierre) to death . When they were cercled by Convention troops and Coffinhal found Hanriot in a corridor, he exploded in anger toward him, accusing him of being a coward at this dramatic situation. Hanriot , furious , answered back, and, after a fight Coffinhal threw him to a Common sewer from a window. Hanriot was severely injured after this attack, but not dead. When guards come to bring him to Hôtel-Dieu, they stroke him in the face with a bayonette, and one of his eyes come out and remained there, hanging until he was brought to the guillotine. He was almost naked (I dn’t know who thrown his unifirm away), dressed with a simple “chemise”, all covered of blood and horse dirt. He was pale and over the point of death. He didn’t said much but didn’t complain either. It was said that when he was being brought to guillotine (evidently he couldn’t go by his own, he must be carried out), one of the burreau helpers, thrown his eye away. He shaked all over, but didn’t cry, nor said a word. And there’s a story abut someone taking the eyeball to have it as a ...ahem...souvenir from the Revolution.

What a sad story isn’t it? But we are very used to sad stories here...

Some curiosities about him:

-Even if his story offers a lot of material for a good novel, he hardly appears as a character in none of them, excepting some few ones in which he is depicted as exactly the opposite he really was. I’m remembering “Scarlet Pimernerl” right now (yuck!) and of course “The Chevallier of the Red House”, by Dumas.

-He also appears rarely in movies or TV series consacred to French Revolution. He is this fat, ugly, untidy man who is seen for some minutes at the “French Revolution: Years f Rage”. However, he is a very sweet and lovely character at “La Terreur et La Vertue”, a little fatty, tough.

-Hanriot had been accused of being a drunkard, but Mathiez denied it and of curse, Soboul did too. But the more weird...Lenôtre denied this legend! For him, Hanriot was not a drunkard and he quotes Philippe Lebas (son) to demonstrate it.

Later, I'll post some pics of him.

HanriotFran (Vanesa)