Political of the French Revolution (Décize, Nivernais, 1767-Paris, 1794). A mischievous son of a family of proprietors, he was a law student when the Revolution of 1789 broke out. He joined the movement fervently, taking part in the command of the new National Guard. Within the revolutionary ranks, he adopted from the beginning the most radical positions, which linked him to Robespierre. Always faithful to Robespierre, he helped him to overthrow the Girondists, to get rid of Danton, and to establish a regime of exception that would carry the Revolution to its ultimate consequences in order to save it from its internal and external enemies. He was not only the right-hand man of the dictator, but also the chief inspiration for his bloody persecution of the privileged, counterrevolutionaries, extreme left-wing hebertists, indulgent and mere suspects known as the Terror.