Mirabeau, Honoré-Gabriel Riqueti, count de

(1749-1791)

   orator, political figure

   The son of the economist victor riqueti, marquis de Mirabeau, Honoré, Gabriel Riqueti, count of Mirabeau was born in Le Bignon, Loiret. Known for his remarkable intelligence and passionate, even violent nature, he was little attached to his family and was forced into a military career in 1767. He had a stormy youth and was several times imprisoned by lettres de cachet arranged by his father. Thus, after his liaison with the young sophie, the wife of the marquis de Monnier, with whom he fled to switzerland and then to the Netherlands, Mirabeau was confined to the château of Vincennes (1777-80), where he wrote the famous Lettres à Sophie (published in 1792) and his Essai sur les lettres de cachet et les prisons d'État (1782). Upon his release, he wrote pamphlets denouncing royal absolutism and its privileges and abuses. Given a diplomatic mission to the court of Berlin (1786), he published, on his return, De la Monarchie prussienne sous Frédéric le Grand (1787), and Histoire secrète sur la cour à Berlin, which, when the identity of its author was revealed, caused a scandal (1789). Embracing the ideas of the period and becoming a supporter of constitutional monarchy, Mirabeau was a member of a Masonic lodge and of an abolitionist society (Amis des Noirs). He made contact with the duke d'orléans (philippe égalité), whom Mirabeau undoubtedly for a time saw as replacing louis XVI on the throne. A delegate to the Estates General, then to the National Assembly, he played a decisive role in the early events of the revolution of 1789, establishing freedom of the press with his Courrier de Provence, and being celebrated for his famous reply to the royal messenger (June 23, 1789), "If you have orders to remove us from this hall, you must also get the authority to use force, for we shall yield to nothing but bayonets." Mirabeau vigorously defended the principles of the Revolution, taking part in the drafting of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen, and proposing to the National Assembly that the property of the church be put at the disposal of the nation. Mirabeau wished to play the role of intermediary between the king and the assembly, a role that was officially recognized (November 7, 1789). After this, Mirabeau distanced himself little by little from the revolutionaries and defended the royal prerogatives and sought to maintain the king's right to the royal veto and his right to declare war and make peace. in both cases, he was only partially successful. introduced to the royal court, Mirabeau began to play the role of a secret adviser (1790), bringing issues important to the king to the assembly, while at the same time upholding the Revolution's principles. Although accused of treason by some deputies, Mirabeau upheld his reputation and his popularity and was elected president of the National Assembly in January 1791. He died, however, shortly afterward. His personal writings include Œuvres oratoires (posthumous); Correspondence entre le comte de Mirabeau et le comte de La Marck (posthumous).