Lafayette, Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de 1757-1834
French soldier and revolutionary

Born in Chavagnac, into an ancient noble family, he spent a period at court before going to America, where he fought against the British during the American Revolution (1777-79 and 1780-82) and became a hero and a friend of George Washington. A liberal aristocrat, in the National Assembly of 1789 he presented a draft of a Declaration of the Rights of Man, based on the US Declaration of Independence. Hated by the Jacobins for his moderation, he defected to Austria, returning to France during the Consulate. During the Restoration he sat in the Chamber of Deputies (1818-24), became a radical Leader of the Opposition (1825-30), and commanded the National Guard in the 1830 July Revolution.

Bibliography: W Woodward, Lafayette (1939)