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Gilbert Romme
Among the Martyrs of Prairial, his is perhaps the least forgotten name: Gilbert Romme. After the fall of Robespierre, he was one of the last Montagnards who supported the popular uprising in the spring of 1795 and were therefore sentenced to death. But the condemned men escaped the executioner: they stabbed themselves. Together with Fabre d’Églantine, Romme had developed the Republican Calendar, whose orientation toward nature, astronomy, and the decimal system still fascinates today. The calendar had only a short life. It died with the Republic. And Gilbert Romme himself did not grow old.
1750 - 1795
- March 26, 1750 · Charles-Gilbert Romme is born in Riom (Puy-de-Dôme department), the son of a public prosecutor.
- 1774 · Begins studying medicine, followed by mathematics, in Paris.
- 1779 · Romme becomes tutor to Count Pavel Alexandrovich Stroganov in St. Petersburg. Later he accompanies him on his travels through Europe. In 1790, both go to Paris.
- September 1791 · Elected to the Legislative Assembly as deputy for the Puy-de-Dôme department. In September 1792, elected to the National Convention.
- October 5, 1793 · Romme proposes the introduction of a new calendar to the National Convention.
- November 24, 1793 · The final version of the Republican Calendar is adopted by the National Convention. For the time system developed by Romme, Fabre d’Églantine devises the names of the months and days. The calendar remains in force in France until 31 December 1805.
- July 1794 · At the fall of Robespierre in Thermidor Year II, Romme is not in Paris; he is on a mission in the Charente department.
- August 1794 · After returning to the Convention, Romme joins the group of the Crétois, the last deputies remaining from the Montagnard faction.
- May 20, 1795 · Start of the Prairial uprising:
Bread and the Constitution of 1793!
Protesters storm Parliament. As a deputy, Romme supports several demands of the insurgents. After midnight, when the National Guard drives the crowd out of the Convention, Romme and thirteen other deputies are arrested. - June 16, 1795 · Beginning of the trial of Romme and five other last Montagnards before a military court in the Luxembourg Palace.
- June 17, 1795 · After the death sentence is pronounced, the condemned men stab themselves as they leave the courtroom. Romme too chooses voluntary death.
Quotes
Each day must remind citizens of the Revolution that made them free.
Gilbert Romme during the debate on the introduction of a new calendar, 5 October 1793.
To abolish Sunday.
Romme’s answer when asked what the new calendar was for.
I die for the Republic.
Romme’s last words.
Le Moniteur
Le 16 du premier mois, l'an IIe de la République française
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