Claude Antoine, comte Prieur-Duvernois (1763–1832), commonly known as Prieur de la Côte-d'Or after his native

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. Ninety ...

, was a French engineer and a politician during and after the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

Life

Early life and revolutionary beginnings

Born in

Auxonne Auxonne ( or ) is a commune in the Côte-d'Or department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of eastern France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Auxonnais'' or ''Auxonnaises''. Auxonne is one of the sites of the defensive struc ...

, Côte-d'Or. As an officer of engineers, he presented to the National Constituent Assembly in 1790 a ''Mémoire'' on the standardization of weights and measures. In 1791, the Côte-d'Or re-elected him to the Legislative Assembly, and in 1792 to the

National Convention The National Convention (french: link=no, Convention nationale) was the parliament of the Kingdom of France for one day and the French First Republic for the rest of its existence during the French Revolution, following the two-year Nationa ...

. In 1792, Prieur-Duvernois was sent on a mission to the

Army of the Rhine An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

to announce the deposition of

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

Louis XVI Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was ...

, after having voted in favor of his

execution Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that ...

. In 1793 he served as a representative on mission to survey the ports of

Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town ('' commune'') and seaport in the Morbihan department of Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginning around 3000 BC, settlements in the area of Lorient are attested by the presen ...

and Dunkirk. He was arrested in

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

after the fall of the

Girondist The Girondins ( , ), or Girondists, were members of a loosely knit political faction during the French Revolution. From 1791 to 1793, the Girondins were active in the Legislative Assembly and the National Convention. Together with the Montagnard ...

s (June 1793) by the rebel authorities of Caen. He was released in July 1793 after the defeat of their forces at Vernon.

Committee of Public Safety

On 14 August 1793, he became a member of the Committee of Public Safety, where he allied himself with Lazare Carnot in the organization of national defence. His role included providing munitions for the troops engaged in the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted France against Britain, Austria, Prussia ...

. Prieur worked closely with prominent scientists in France. The Committee worked with several notable French scientists, including Lagrange,

Lamarck Jean-Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet, chevalier de Lamarck (1 August 1744 – 18 December 1829), often known simply as Lamarck (; ), was a French naturalist, biologist, academic, and soldier. He was an early proponent of the idea that biolo ...

, and Vandermonde. Prieur and Carnot advocated the use of observation balloons in war after some experiments in

Meudon Meudon () is a municipality in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is in the département of Hauts-de-Seine. It is located from the center of Paris. The city is known for many historic monuments and some extraordinary trees. One of t ...

. This led to their deployment at the Battle of Fleurus. With Carnot, Prieur aligned with the Reign of Terror, and voted in favor of Georges Danton's execution. As the Committee collapsed, Prieur aligned with Carnot and

Lindet Jean-Baptiste Robert Lindet (2 May 1746 in Bernay, Eure – 17 February 1825) was a French politician of the Revolutionary period. His brother, Robert Thomas Lindet, became a constitutional bishop and member of the National Convention. Althoug ...

, the two other specialists in the Committee. Prieur retained his seat after the

Thermidorian Reaction The Thermidorian Reaction (french: Réaction thermidorienne or ''Convention thermidorienne'', "Thermidorian Convention") is the common term, in the historiography of the French Revolution, for the period between the ousting of Maximilien Robespie ...

. He avoided capture in the riots of Prairial Insurrection (20 May 1795), and was subsequently spared the attacks of moderates in the Thermidorian Convention.

Directory and Empire

Under the

Directory Directory may refer to: * Directory (computing), or folder, a file system structure in which to store computer files * Directory (OpenVMS command) * Directory service, a software application for organizing information about a computer network's u ...

, Prieur sat in the

Council of Five Hundred The Council of Five Hundred (''Conseil des Cinq-Cents''), or simply the Five Hundred, was the lower house of the legislature of France under the Constitution of the Year III. It existed during the period commonly known (from the name of the ...

until

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

18 Brumaire coup The Coup d'état of 18 Brumaire brought Napoleon Bonaparte to power as First Consul of France. In the view of most historians, it ended the French Revolution and led to the Coronation of Napoleon as Emperor. This bloodless ''coup d'état'' over ...

(9 November 1799). In 1808 he was created a

count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

of the

Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

, and in 1811 he retired from the army with the grade of (the equivalent of

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

). Prieur-Duvernois was one of the founders of the ''

École Polytechnique École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

''. In this role, he helped to establish the

Institut de France The (; ) is a French learned society, grouping five , including the Académie Française. It was established in 1795 at the direction of the National Convention. Located on the Quai de Conti in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, the institute ...

, to adopt the

metric system The metric system is a system of measurement that succeeded the decimalised system based on the metre that had been introduced in France in the 1790s. The historical development of these systems culminated in the definition of the Interna ...

, and to found the '' Bureau des Longitudes''. Prieur died in

Dijon Dijon (, , ) (dated) * it, Digione * la, Diviō or * lmo, Digion is the prefecture of the Côte-d'Or department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in northeastern France. the commune had a population of 156,920. The earlies ...

References

* This, in turn, gives as references: ** J. Gros, ''Le Comité de salut public'' (1893) ** E. Charavay, ', vol. i., which includes some documents drawn up by Prieur. {{DEFAULTSORT:Prieur-Duvernois, Claude Antoine, comte 1763 births 1832 deaths People from Côte-d'Or Counts of the First French Empire Deputies to the French National Convention French engineers People on the Committee of Public Safety People of the Reign of Terror Représentants en mission Presidents of the National Convention Regicides of Louis XVI