Fréron, Louis-Stanislas

(1754-1802)

   publisher, political figure

   Born in Paris, Louis-Stanislas Fréron, the son of élie fréron, was the director of L'Année littéraire from 1776 to 1789, joined the revolution of 1789, and founded the journal L'Orateurdu peuple. A member of the cordeliers club, he participated in the great revolutionary events (affair of the Champ-de-Mars, July 17, 1791; August 10, 1792; September massacres, 1792). Elected to the Convention, where he sat with the montagnards, he was sent to Marseille and Toulon to put down federalist and royalist insurrections. Threatened by maximilien Robespierre, he contributed to his downfall and went over to the reaction during the Thermidorian Convention. A friend of pauline bonaparte, he supported the coup d'état of 18 Brumaire (November 9, 1799) and was named administrator of hospices and later commissioner in Saint-Domingue.