La Harpe, Amadée Emmanuel François de

(1754-1796)

   military figure

   Of Swiss origin, Amadée Emmanuel François de La Harpe was born in Château des Uttins, Vaud. A member of the Swiss regiment that was in the service of the Dutch (1773), captain in his own country in 1781, he was condemned to death by the Bernois but escaped before being arrested. Coming to France, where he joined the revolution of 1789, he was named commander of the volunteers of Seine-et-Oise (1791). He took part as a lieutenant colonel in the siege of Toulon (1793), and as a general, distinguished himself during the course of the italian campaign. The Swiss political figure Frédéric César de La Harpe was his cousin.