La Fayette, Marie-Joseph-Paul-Yves-Roch-Gilbert du Motier, marquis de

(1757-1834)

   general, statesman

   Born into a noted aristocratic family in Chanvaniac and educated at the Collège Louis-le-Grand in Paris, Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, marquis de La Fayette served in the French army from 1771 to 1776, rising to the rank of captain. Sympathizing with the American revolutionary cause, he went to America and offered his services to the U.S. Congress. He was commissioned a major general in the Continental Army (1777) and became a member of General George Washington's staff. He was wounded at the Battle of the Brandy-wine, became a division commander, and fought also at Monmouth. La Fayette returned to France for six months to promote financial and military aid for the American cause and, in 1780, returned to America to fight in the War of Independence. In 1787, in France, he became member of the Assembly of Notables and, in 1789, a supporter of the revolution of 1789 and a member of the National Assembly. La Fayette organized and commanded the National Guard and was a founder of the Feuillants. Seeking the reconciliation of the king with the Revolution, he advocated a constitutional monarchy. in 1791, several months after the fall of the bastille, he was put in charge of the National Guard in Paris, but his popularity declined after he ordered the attack on the demonstrators of the Champ-de-Mars (July 1791). He encouraged the king to declare war, was named commander of the Army of the North, and was later held by the Austrians (1792-97), returning to France in 1799. Disapproving of the policies of napoléon i, he subsequently played little part in politics until 1815. He then served in the Chamber of Deputies (demanding, with others, the abdication of napoléon i) and the National Guard and took part in the revolution of 1830. A moderate liberal, La Fayette, throughout his life, urged popular representation, social equality, freedom of the press, and religious tolerance.