His father, a regicide member of the Convention, killed himself on 9 Thermidor with the fall of Robespierre: the child was six weeks old and would be imprisoned with his mother. A Hellenist and professor at the Sorbonne, he was tutor to Prince Louis-Napoleon — the son of a regicide shaped Napoleon III.
The story
On 9 Thermidor 1794 Robespierre fell. With him, his loyal Philippe Le Bas, a regicide member of the Convention, killed himself. His son, who bore the same name, was six weeks old: imprisoned with his mother Élisabeth Duplay — whose father had lodged Robespierre — the future Hellenist Philippe Le Bas entered life under that sign.
Out of that, he became a noted Hellenist and a professor at the Sorbonne, then a municipal councillor of Paris: a scholar out of one of the most compromised families of the Revolution.
But it is his last title that turns the story over: he was tutor to the prince Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, the future Napoleon III. The son of a regicide trained the last sovereign of France.
He died in 1860. The stone in Division 34 carries four words: “Famille LE BAS du NORD.” Not 9 Thermidor, not the Sorbonne, not the pupil who would reign.
The grave
A family inscription and nothing else: “Famille LE BAS du NORD.” No first name, no dates, no profession. The Sorbonne professor, tutor to the future Napoleon III, son of the regicide member of the Convention who died on 9 Thermidor and grandson by marriage of Robespierre's landlord, rests under four words that tell none of these destinies.
On site, do not miss
A family inscription and nothing else: “Famille LE BAS du NORD.” No first name, no dates, no profession — for the tutor of Napoleon III.
Visitors' questions
Where is Philippe Le Bas's grave?
In Division 34, avenue Circulaire, second row, under a family inscription: “Famille LE BAS du NORD”. No forename, no dates, no profession — for a professor at the Sorbonne. He died in 1860.
Jean Noël MonrocqWho was his father?
Philippe Le Bas, a regicide member of the Convention and a loyal man of Robespierre's, who killed himself on 9 Thermidor. His mother, Élisabeth Duplay, was the daughter of the joiner in whose house Robespierre lodged. The child was gaoled with his mother after Thermidor.
Saint-SimonDid he tutor Napoleon III?
He did: he was tutor to Prince Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte. The son of a regicide, gaoled as a baby with his mother, taught the last sovereign of France — one of the strangest lives in the cemetery.
HaussmannWhat was his profession?
A noted Hellenist and professor at the Sorbonne, and a member of the Paris city council. A scholar out of one of the most compromised families of the French Revolution.
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