Charles-Gilbert Romme
Romme, Charles-Gilbert
Born Mar. 26, 1750, in Riom; died June 17, 1795, in Paris. Political figure of the French Revolution; Jacobin.
From 1779 to 1786, Romme lived in Russia, where he served as tutor to Count P. A. Stroganov. From 1786 to 1788 he lived in Switzerland. Upon returning to France, he joined the revolutionary movement. In 1791 he was elected to the Legislative Assembly, and in 1792 to the National Convention, where he sided with the Montagnards.
Romme was active in preparing reforms in public education and took part in developing the French Republican calendar. Although he at first supported the Thermidorian coup of 1794, he soon saw the counterrevolutionary nature of the movement and began, as one of the last members of the Montagnard group in the National Convention, to oppose the Thermidorians. After the repression of the Insurrection of Prairial in 1795, which he had joined, Romme was condemned to death; he committed suicide.