| Jean Marie Roland |
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| CATEGORIES ABOUT JEAN-MARIE ROLAND, VICOMTE DE LA PLATIèRE | |
| french nobility | |
| french politicians | |
| people from rhône-alpes | |
| people of the french revolution | |
| politicians who committed suicide | |
| suicides by sharp instrument | |
| 1734 births | |
| 1793 deaths | |
| SHOPPER'S DELIGHT | |
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Vicomte Jean-Marie Roland de la Platière ( February 18 , 1734 – November 10 , 1793 ) was a French statesman and Girondist during the French Revolution . He served as a minister of the interior in Louis XVI 's Girondist cabinet of spring 1792. EARLY LIFE He was born at Thizy and was a studious child, who received a good education. Proposing to seek his fortune abroad, he walked to Nantes , but once there he suffered an illness that forced him to change his plans. For some years he worked as a clerk; then moved to Amiens where he quickly rose to become an inspector of manufacture alongside a relative. In both posts, he learned the qualities of assiduity and accuracy and developed a familiarity with the Commerce of the country. In 1781, he married Manon Jeanne Phlipon, who soon became famous as " Madame Roland ". For the first four years of their marriage, Roland continued to live at Amiens and work as a factory inspector. His knowledge of commercial affairs enabled him to contribute articles to the '' Encyclopedie Nouvelle '', in which, as in all his literary work, he was assisted by his wife. LYONS When they moved to Lyons , their influence grew and their fervent political aspirations could not be concealed. From the beginning of the Revolution, they threw in their lot with the party of advance. The articles they contributed to the ''Courrier de Lyon'' came to the attention Paris ian press; although roland signed them, it was Madame Roland who wrote them. As a result, a correspondence began between Roland, Brissot and other friends of the Revolution in Paris. Roland was elected a member of the Lyons Municipality and subsequently deputised by the Lyons council to ask the National Constituent Assembly to regard Lyons' municipal debt – which had been contracted for the benefit of the state – as part of the national debt. Accompanied by his wife, Roland arrived in Paris during February 1791 and remained there until September. They frequented the Society Of The Friends Of The Constitution , entertaining deputies who later became leading Girondists and taking an active part in the political discussions. PARIS In September 1791, Roland's mission completed, he and Madame Roland returned to Lyons. By then, however, inspectorships of manufacture had been abolished, so they quickly decided to return to Paris. Roland became a member of the Jacobin Club and their influence continued to grow, Madame Roland's Salon becoming the rendezvous of Brissot, Pétion , Robespierre and other leaders of the popular movement, especially Buzot . When the Girondists assumed power, Roland found himself appointed minister of the interior on March 23, 1792. He exhibited a Bourgeois brusqueness and a remarkable combination of political prejudice with administrative ability. Although his wife's influence could not increase the latter, it fomented the former. As Roland was ''ex officio'' excluded from the Legislative Assembly , his declarations of policy were in writing and so most prone to Madame Roland's influence. Decrees against émigré s and the Non-juring clergy still remained under the veto of the king. Madame Roland therefore wrote a letter addressing the royal refusal to sanction the decrees and the role of the king in the state, which her husband addressed and sent to Louis XVI . It remained unanswered. In full council and in the king's presence, therefore, Roland read his letter aloud. It was inconsistent with a minister's position and disrespectful, if not insolent, in tone. Roland's dismissal followed. However, he then read the letter to the Assembly, which ordered it printed and circulated. It became the manifesto of disaffection and the Assembly's subsequent demand that Roland and other dismissed ministers be reinstated became the prelude to the king's dethronement. After the Insurrection Of August 10 , Roland was recalled to power but was dismayed by what he saw as the lack of progress made by the Revolution. As a provincial, he opposed the ''Montagnards'' who aimed at supremacy not only in Paris but in the government as well. His hostility to the Paris Commune prompted him to propose transferring the government to Blois ; and his attacks on Robespierre and his associates made him very unpopular. After failing to seal the iron chest found in the Tuileries to contain documents that indicated Louis XVI's relations with France's enemies, he was accused of destroying some of the evidence within. Finally, during the trial of the king, he and the Girondists demanded that the sentence should be decided by a poll of the French people rather than the Convention . Two days after the king's execution, he resigned his office. DEATH Although now extremely unpopular, the Rolands remained in Paris, suffering abuse and calumny, especially from Marat . When Roland heard that his wife had been condemned, he wandered some miles from his refuge in Rouen and wrote a few words expressing his horror at the Reign Of Terror : "...from the moment when I learned that they had murdered my wife, I would no longer remain in a world stained with enemies." He attached the paper to his chest, then killed himself with a sword-stick. REFERENCES ''Please update as needed. The ''Britannica'' gives the following references in turn:
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