François Omer Granet
Knight of the Légion d'Honneur
Pronunciation:
Born November 16, 1758, died September 10, 1821, Marseille. Barrel maker by trade.
In July 1789, François Omer Granet was imprisoned for rioting in Marseille, but freed thanks to the intercession of Honoré-Gabriel Riqueti de Mirabeau.
Administrator of Bouches-du-Rhône in 1790, deputy to the Legislative Assembly the following year, he was re-elected to the Convention in 1792. He took his seat on the Montagne benches, wearing a red bonnet. An ardent patriot, he took part among the "Marseillais" in the events of August 10, 1792 and voted for the death of Louis XVI without appeal or reprieve.
In September 1793, he joined the Comité de salut public, but resigned after twenty-four hours.
In April 1794, he tried unsuccessfully to put Jourdan Coupe-Têtes, the leader of the Avignon revolutionaries, out of action. He also became the accuser of Louis Fréron and Paul François de Barras, and was one of Maximilien Robespierre's most violent enemies on 9 Thermidor.
On Germinal 16, Year III, François Omer Granet was arrested as one of the leaders of the insurrection that had marched on the Convention. Decreted on indictment, he was eventually amnestied.
Under the Consulate and Empire, he was successively deputy mayor of Marseille, then mayor of the Midi section in that city, for which he was awarded the Légion d'Honneur.
Dismissed under the first Restoration, Granet once again became a member of the House of Representatives during the Hundred Days. After the King's second return, he fell foul of the January 12, 1816 law against regicides, and was forced into exile in Brussels. Renowned for his scruffy attire during the Convention, he now wears silk stockings, short breeches and a sword at his side.
Having sought and obtained a pardon from King Louis XVIII, he returned to Marseille in 1818.
« Le Député Granet toujours en carmagnole de toile grise, son grand baton et tenant son chapeau ainsi ». Gouache by Jean-Baptiste Lesueur, painted between 1792 and 1798
It has been reported that, at the Convention, Granet sat armed with a gnarled stick as big as his arm...
Freemasonry: François Omer Granet was a member of the lodge "Les Philadelphes" in the Orient of Marseille.