Regnault or Regnaud de Saint-Jean-d'Angély, Michel

(1761-1819)

   political figure

   Born in Saint-Fargeau, Michel Regnault (or Regnaud) de Saint-Jean-d'Angély was a deputy to the Estates General (1789) and, during the revolution of 1789, joined the monarchists in the National Constituent Assembly (1789-91). Arrested under the terror (1793), he escaped and returned to France after Thermidor and the downfall of max-imilien Robespierre. Supporting the coup d'état of 18 Brumaire (November 9, 1799), which brought Napoléon Bonaparte (see napoléon i) to power, Regnault became a member of the Council of State, in which he directed the section for the interior. Prosecutor-general of the High Court and secretary of state to the imperial family, he was highly regarded by napoléon i, who made him a count (1808). A deputy and minister of state during the hundred days, he convinced the emperor to abdicate after the defeat at Waterloo (1815) and went into exile in America, then Belgium. Elected to the Académie Française in 1803, he was excluded in 1816 for having supported Napoléon.