Honor%C3%A9 Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau

Honor Gabriel Riqueti, Count of Mirabeau was a leader of the early stages of the French revolution. A noble, he was involved before 1789 in numerous scandals that left his reputation in ruins. However, during the early years of the French Revolution he rose to the top and became a voice of the people. A successful orator, he was the leader of the moderate position, favoring a constitutional monarchy built on the model of Great Britain. When he died he was a great national hero, even though support for his moderate position was slipping away. The later discovery that starting in 1790 he was in the pay of the king and the Austrian enemies of France caused his disgrace. Historians are deeply split on whether he was a great leader who almost saved the nation from the Terror, or a venal demagogue lacking political or moral values, or a traitor in the pay of the enemy.

Honor Mirabeau was born at Le Bignon, near Nemours, the eldest surviving son of the economist Victor de Riqueti, marquis de Mirabeau, and his wife MarieGenevive de Vassan. He was also the fifth child and second son of the couple. When he was three years old, a virulent attack of smallpox left his face disfigured. This, combined with Mirabeaus resemblance to his maternal ancestors and his fondness for his mother, contributed to his fathers dislike of him. At the age of five, he was sent by his father to a boarding school by the name of Abbe Choquard. Destined for the army, at age eighteen, he entered the military school in Paris in the regiment of BerriCavaleria at Saints. Of this school, which had JosephLouis Lagrange for its professor of mathematics, there is an amusing account in the life of Gilbert Elliot who met Mirabeau there. On leaving school in 1767 he received a commission in a cavalry regiment which his grandfather had commanded years before.

Source: Wikipedia