20 Vendémiaire
An CCXXXV
Claude-Antoine Prieur
When the members of the Committee of Public Safety are discussed, Prieur de la Côte-d’Or is usually mentioned last, if at all. Yet he was one of the founding fathers of the French Republic as we know it today. Alongside Carnot, Prieur made a major contribution to the victories of the French armies by organizing the production of saltpeter and the manufacture of weapons — a Herculean task amid revolution and war. He also helped found what would later become the École polytechnique. Prieur believed that a republic could not endure without public education. He also played a major role in introducing the metric system, a reform that still shapes our daily lives.
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1763 - 1832
- December 22, 1763 · Born in Auxonne, the son of a finance official. He later trains as a military engineer at the engineering school in Mézières.
- September 1791 · Elected deputy for the Côte-d’Or department to the Legislative Assembly.
- September 1792 · Elected to the National Convention.
- January 1793 · As a deputy, he votes for the execution of Louis Capet.
- June 1793 · Sent to Caen with fellow deputy Gilbert Romme on a mission against the Girondins. Both are held hostage and released after 51 days following the Federalists’ defeat at Vernon.
- August 1793 · Elected to the Committee of Public Safety. Together with Carnot, he organizes national defense, focusing particularly on the production of gunpowder.
- July 27, 1794 · He welcomes the Convention’s revolt against Robespierre, but subsequently also defends the committees’ policies during the Reign of Terror.
- October 6, 1794 · Prieur leaves the Committee of Public Safety.
- April 7, 1795 · Following a report by Prieur, the National Convention adopts the law establishing the metric system.
- June 1795 · Prieur helps found the École polytechnique.
- October 1795 · Elected to the Council of Five Hundred.
- November 1799 · After Napoleon’s coup d’état, Prieur retires from politics.
- November 27, 1808 · Emperor Napoleon makes Prieur a count.
- January 12, 1816 · The law concerning the regicides banishes deputies who voted for the death of Louis XVI and supported Napoleon during the Hundred Days. Despite his vote in January 1793, Prieur is not banished.
- August 11, 1832 · Dies in Dijon.
Quotes
I condemn Louis to death.
Prieur’s vote at the king’s trial, January 1793
The Republic, my very dear teacher, has once again been saved.
Prieur to his teacher and friend Guyton, 10 Thermidor II (28 July 1794)
One of the founding fathers of the École polytechnique, unfortunately somewhat overlooked.
Emmanuel Grison, Bulletin de la SABIX, 1992
Le Moniteur
On the Committee of Public Safety, Prieur de la Côte-d'Or worked closely with Carnot on military matters.
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