BARNAVE, ANTOINE PIERRE JOSEPH MARIE:
French politician; member of the Assemblie Nationale; born at Grenoble in Dauphiny Oct. 22, 1761; guillotined in Paris Nov. 29, 1793. He was of a Protestant family. Barnave received his education in the law at home; and at the age of twenty-two he made himself known as a political orator.
In 1789 Barnave was elected by the Tiers état deputy to the States General. Owing to his oratorical ability he soon became one of the leaders of the popular party. Imbued from his childhood with liberal ideas, and having himself suffered, as a Protestant, from restrictive laws, Barnave ardently pleaded atthe Assembly the cause of the Jews, and joined his efforts to those of Mirabeau to carry his followers in their favor. On Dec. 23, 1789, he delivered a great discourse, defending the Jews against the attacks made at the tribune by the abbé Muray and the bishop of Nancy, both of whom endeavored by all means to check the complete emancipation of the Jews. Barnave contributed on this occasion in great measure to the final triumph of justice.
- Leon Kahn, Les Juifs de Paris Pendant la Révolution, p. 23;
- Grätz, Gesch. der Juden, 3d ed., x. 190.
