Barbès, Armand

(1809-1870)

   revolutionary

   Born in Point-à-Pitre, Armand Barbès arrived in Paris in 1830 and immediately joined the republican opposition to the july monarchy. He was imprisoned after the April Days of 1834 (see april 1834, days of), and again in 1835 after an assassination attempt on the king, in which, however, he had no part. upon his release, Barbès organized and led, with louis auguste blanqui, the May 12, 1839, uprising. He was sentenced to death, but the sentence was commuted to life in prison, in part owing to the intervention of victor hugo. Released after the February 1848 revolution, Barbès took a seat in the National Assembly as a deputy of the extreme Left. But having been one of the principal instigators of the May 15 demonstrations, he was again sentenced to prison. Held at Doullens and later at Belle-Île-en-Mer, he refused the pardon granted by Napoléon III in 1854 and, freed against his will, went into voluntary exile in Holland.