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Jacques Ren� H�bert

Jacques Ren� H�bert (November 15, 1757 - March 24, 1794), French Revolutionist, called "P�re Duchesne," from the newspaper he edited, was born at Alen�on, Orne[?], where his father, who kept a goldsmith's shop, had held some municipal office.

His family was ruined, however, by a lawsuit while he was still young, and H�bert came to Paris, where in his struggle against poverty he endured great hardships; the accusations of theft directed against him later by Camille Desmoulins were, however, without foundation. In 1790 he attracted attention by some pamphlets, and became a prominent member of the club of the Cordeliers in 1791.

On August 10, 1792 he was a member of the revolutionary Commune of Paris, and became second substitute of the procw-eur of the Commune on December 2 1792. His violent attacks on the Girondists led to his arrest on May 24 1793, but he was released owing to the threatening attitude of the mob. Henceforth very popular, H�bert organized with PG Chaumette the "worship of Reason," in opposition to the theistic cult inaugurated by Robespierre, against whom he tried to excite a popular movement. The failure of this brought about the arrest of the H�bertists, or enrages, as his partisans were called. H�bert was guillotined on the 24th of March 1794.

His wife, who had been a nun, was executed twenty days later. H�bert's influence was mainly due to his articles in his journal Le P�re Duchesne, which appeared from 1790 to 1794. These articles, while not lacking in a certain cleverness, were violent and abusive, and purposely couched in foul language in order to appeal to the mob.

See Louis Duval, "H�bert chez lui," in La Revolution Fran�aise, revue d'histoire moderne et contemporaine, t. xii. and t. xiii.; D Mater, J. R. H�bert, l'auteur du P�re Duchesne avant la journ�e du 10 ao�t 1792 (Bourges, Comm. Hist. du Cher, 1888); FA Aulard, Le Culte de la raison et de l'�tre supr�me (Paris, 1892).

This entry was originally from the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.



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