-
The Marquis de Lafayette (Gilbert du Motier), born in Lafayette, France (1757) was a revolutionary nobleman who played a crucial role in the American revolution, and also wrote one of the most celebrated articles in human history.
-
-
He lost his father "Michel Louis Christophe Roch Gilbert Paulette du Motier" when he was two years old.
-
By the age of twelve, he was left completely orphan by the lost of his mother and his grandparents.
-
Marie Adrienne François de Noailles, was a woman from an extremely rich family, and married the Marquis de Lafayette in 1773. -
In 1775, Lafayette had dinner with other noblemen, Lafayette met the duke Charles François de Brogile, and talked with him about the British struggling with their colonies in America. -
Since that dinner, Lafayette was interested on joining the revolutionary American cause, and was named Major General on Philadelphia, 1777. -
During the war, he would help the revolutionaries so much, sending thousands of french troops that were essential to win the war.
-
When the war came to an end in 1783, president George Washington honored him as one of the many heroes that helped the newborn nation of the United States of America, and yet he's still remembered like that to this day. -
When he went back to France, and as a democratic ideals supporter, Marquis de Lafayette wrote in 1789 the celebrated Declaration of the rights of the Man and the Citizen. The article that mentioned the basic rights of the people, being the first of all human rights articles. This inspired the nowadays universal Declaration of the Human Rights -
He was imprisoned by the king of France because of his revolutionary thoughts -
Napoleon Bonaparte got Lafayette out of prison thanks to Marie Adrienne, who convinced him of letting the Marquis back in France. -
Lafayette left politics in 1802 because he didn't want to take part of the new Napoleon's government that would eventually happen two years later. -
When Napoleon retired, his opposition invaded France, reinstalling the french monarchy once more. -
Lafayette was named a deputy during the early XVIII monarchy reinstallation. Although he managed to be the leader of the revolution against the new king, they abolished his political position. -
Gilbert du Motier the Marquis de Lafayette, died peacefully in Paris, on 1834, remaining impactful until our days, being one of the creators of one of the most influential nations on modern day, and the one who inspired something as important as our rights as human beings.