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Once, while in Paris, my husband and I visited the Galeries Lafayette. This is the Parisian analogue of GUM – a passage with a glass dome. “Lafayette – what is it, or who is it?” – I asked myself …
It turns out that Lafayette was a participant in three Revolutions:
- American War of Independence;
- The Great French Revolution of 1789;
- July Revolution of 1830.
Nobleman of the sword
It was named after an ancestor – a hero of the Hundred Years War and an associate of Joan of Arc. Actually, all the grandfathers and great-grandfathers of the Marquis Gilbert de Lafayette were officers. Gilbert was born in the province of Auvergne on September 6, 1757. His full name is: Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roche Gilbert du Mautier, Marquis de La Fayette.
When the boy turned 13, his mother and grandfather, who served as a general, died. This turned the orphan into a wealthy heir overnight. In the same year he was taken into the company of the royal musketeers.
At the age of 19, the marquis was already listed as the captain of a cavalry regiment. Once he had a chance to talk with an English lord, who told how the British colonies of North America were fighting for sovereignty. At the same moment, Gilbert was on fire with the idea of helping the colonists find freedom.
Bonjour, America
In April 1777, the brave Frenchman went to the States on a ship, which he bought and equipped with his own money. And in July he turns to Congress with a request to admit him to the American army as a volunteer.
Thus, the 20-year-old marquis becomes George Washington’s assistant. Soon he receives the first wound, but returns to duty, without allowing the wound to heal.
Soul and wallet
The troops of the colonists were failing. There was not enough weapons, equipment, provisions. Lafayette at his own expense equips, puts on shoes, dresses the militia, shares with them all the hardships.
In 1778 he was assigned to command the Northern Army. He skillfully defends the settlements from the British and makes friends with the Indian leaders, persuading them to a military alliance.
In an accessible language, Lafayette explains to the natives the goal of the American Revolution, the idea of democracy. At his own expense, he now supports a whole army. “This madman did not stop at opening his heart to America,” Beaumarchais wrote about Lafayette, “he gave her his wallet.”
Due to pneumonia, the Marquis returns to Europe. In Paris he is honored as a hero, but in April 1780 he was again at war, in North America. Now Lafayette is not only fighting, but coordinating aid from the French government, which he himself agreed to.
The stranger among his
Gilbert returned home only in 1784 after the end of the war. Here Lafayette finds himself in a familiar element: a revolution is raging in France. The Marquis is elected to the States General, where he proposes a declaration of civil rights.
Gilbert La Fayette. Lived: 1757-1834
At the same time, Gilbert renounces noble privileges and simplifies, “democratizes” his surname. Liberal and romantic, the Marquis dreamed of an enlightened, humane monarchy. The unbridled behavior of the nobility resented him as much as the orgy of the rabble.
It is not surprising that Lafayette hated the royal court, and Robespierre repeatedly demanded to hang him. As a result, the marquis still ended up in jail.
The eternal oppositionist
He was released 5 years later and immediately joined the struggle. Left among the right and right among the left, the Marquis maneuvered between fire and flame. After the second, July revolution, the marquis became a member of the provisional government and, perhaps, the most popular politician in Paris.
Even after retiring in 1831, he did not rest on his laurels. Lafayette continued to lead the committee to help the Polish rebels and the Union for the Defense of Civil Liberties.
Family and descendants
The Marquis married at the age of 16: the daughter of the Duke of Noaille became his wife. Like her husband, during the dictatorship of the Jacobins, the Marquis spent several years in captivity. Among their four children, the most famous is Georges Washington (it’s not hard to guess who he was named after).
Lafayette Jr. was also known as a brave man, took an active part in the violent political life of France … However, that’s another story.
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