Carnot, Lazare-Nicolas-Marguerite

(general) (1753-1825)

   military figure

   Known as "le Grand Carnot" and "organisateur de la victoire," Lazare-Nicolas-Marguerite Carnot was born in Nolay, Burgundy. A military engineer before the Revolution, which he supported, Carnot was elected to the Legislative Assembly, then to the Convention, where he sat with the deputies for the Plain, before joining the montagnards. A member of the Committee of Public Safety (July 1793), where he dealt with military matters, he established the 14 armies of the republic, was sent on a mission with the Army of the North, and helped to achieve the victory of Wattignies (October 16, 1793). Associated with the dictatorial policies of the Terror stood against maximilien Robespierre, georges couthon, and louis saint-just during the events of 8 and 9 Thermidor (July 26-27, 1794). A member of the Directory in 1795, he was removed after the coup d'état of 18 Fructidor, Year V (September 4, 1794). Recalled after 18 Brumaire, Year VIII (November 9, 1799) coup d'état, he was named minister of war by napoléon i but, dismissed in 1800. Opposed to the Consulate and the Empire, he retired from public life and dedicated himself to his scientific projects and research until 1814. He then took part, as governor, in the defense of Antwerp (1814). Minister of the interior during the hundred days, he was banished in 1816 as a regicide. Considered the principal strategist of French victories in the crucial years from 1792 to 1795, Carnot is also the author of important scientific works in which he specified the laws of force, enunciated the law of the conservation of labor, and is considered one of the founders of analytical geometry. Carnot was named to the Academy of Sciences in 1796.