BARRAS, PAUL FRANCO IS JEAN

NICOLAS, COMTE DE (1755-1829), French statesman and prominent figure in the French Revolution, 6. at FoxAmphoux, Department of Var, June 30, 1755; died Jan. 29, 1829. He promptly took sides on the outbreak of the Revolution and became and remained an implacable enemy of the Bourbons. He was active in the attacks upon the Bastile and the Tuileries, and voted as a member of the Convention for the death of the king. He was obnoxious, however, to Robes pierre; and a struggle ensued between the two that ended in Robes pierre being sent to the guillotine, while Barras on Feb. 4, 1795, was elected President of the Convention. It was in this capacity that he overawed the Royalists who were seeking to overthrow the Convention. He employed Napoleon Bonaparte to quell the insurrection, and gave him the chief credit for genius and the heights to which he was destined to rise, Barras became a close ally of the latter. It was he who arranged the marriage of Napoleon and Josephine. In the meantime Carnot, the chief rival of Barras, had been ousted from the Directory. (Sept. 4, 1797) and from that time until June, 1799, Barras was the most powerful political figure in France. The entrance of Sieyes into the Directory (June 13, 1799) marked the beginning of the end of Barras’ influence and his downfall came when Napoleon overthrew the Directory by the coup d’etat of Noy. 9, 1799. Barras retired to Bru els but afterward received permi ion to reside in the south of France His illuminating memoirs of the Revolution were published in 1895-96).