Jean-Baptiste Carrier | |
---|---|
Deputy in the National Convention | |
In office 5 September 1792 – 16 December 1794 | |
Constituency | Cantal[1] |
Personal details | |
Born | 16 March 1756 Yolet, Kingdom of France |
Died | 16 December 1794 Paris, French Republic | (aged 38)
Cause of death | Execution by guillotine |
Political party | The Mountain |
Jean-Baptiste Carrier (French pronunciation: [ʒɑ̃ batist kaʁje]; 16 March 1756 – 16 December 1794) was a French Revolutionary and politician most notable for his actions in the War in the Vendée during the Reign of Terror. While under orders to suppress a Royalist counter-revolution, he commanded the execution of 4,000 civilians, mainly priests, women and children in Nantes, some by drowning in the river Loire, which Carrier described as "the National Bathtub."[2] After the fall of the Robespierre government, Carrier was tried for war crimes by the Revolutionary Tribunal, found guilty, and executed.