Jean-Nicolas Pache

Jean-Nicolas Pache was born in 1746 in Verdun but spent most of his childhood in Paris.  His father was the concièrge of the hotel of Marshal de Castries and he became tutor to the marshal's children.  The Marshal funded his progress through military academy.  Castries also allowed him to tutor his children.  He then gave him a post in the Navy ministry and then comptroller of the king's household.

He spent time away from France but then returned at the start of the Revolution.  He was employed by Jean Marie Roland who put him in charge of his office when he became a Girondin minister.  When the Girondin ministry fell in 1792 he was made war minister.  At this point he switched his allegiance to the Mountain and received a torrent of abuse from the Girondins forcing him to step down as minister.  However he received the support of Marat and was able to become mayor of Paris.  He submitted a petition to the National Convention on 15th April 1793 asking for the Girondin leaders to be removed from the assembly he would later resubmit his petition with an additional 12,000 signatures with support from the Paris Commune.  This was then followed up with a march on the Convention on 31st May alongside Chaumette.  Eventually reinforced by National Guardsmen and a mass crowd of sans-culottes the Convention acquiesced and evicted the Girondin leaders.

Pache also brought a petition demanding that there be a maximum price on bread.  Concerned at the potential violence at his disposal the Convention agreed.  Due to his closeness to Hébert and Chaumette he was arrested and was lucky not to be executed.  He was given his release during the amnesty of 25th October 1795.  He would live out the revolution and died in 1823.