It has never been disputed that Saint-Just was physically attractive, earning him the nicknames of "the Angel of Death" and "the Archangel of the Revolution." However, exact physical descriptions of him vary. He is said to have been 5'6" to 5'8" tall, weighing 150 to 160 pounds. He is normally portrayed with either brown or blond hair, worn long and unpowdered in either case, and blue or brown eyes; artist Tony Scherman described him to me as "the perfect Aryan." Saint-Just always dressed with care and is supposed to have worn gold earrings, usually depicted as hoops. Antoine was well-versed in many areas, particularly those of "proper" society. He was probably charming and charismatic and would have been well-liked had he not be considered so cruel. In fact, he was described as having "a brain of fire, a heart of ice."

As with his appearance, there has been some debate and confusion on Saint-Just's true given names. I have heard his full name given as Louis Antoine Léon Florelle de Saint-Just, as well as every possible combination of the five names. However Oleg Schultz has provided me with an article by Maurice Dommanget titled "Du nom et des pre'noms de Saint-Just et de leurs modifications" which seems to definitively answer the question. According to Dommanget, Saint-Just was given the name Louis Antoine de Saint-Just at birth. He sometimes used the name Léon or Léonard because it is the name of the patron saint of prisoners (presumably chosen because of his imprisonment in a correctional home, detailed below). He also used Florelle at times as a poetic, literary pseudonym. Saint-Just used these assorted names in various combinations throughout his life; however, it seems his true name was Louis Antoine.

Saint-Just was born on August 25, 1767, at Decize. He was the son of Jean de Saint Just de Richebourg, a retired French army officer, and Jeanne Marie Robinot, a notary's daughter. Until the age of four, he was raised by a nurse and his great-uncle; after that, he was brought up by his parents. His father died when Antoine was ten, after which the boy and his two sisters, Louise and Marie, were raised by his mother. Jeanne Saint-Just had much difficulty with her son, whom she wanted to become a priest. On September 14, 1786, after his best friend and rumored lover Thérèse Gellé was married to Emmanuel Thorin, Saint-Just took some of his mother's silver and left home. His mother had him arrested, and he was held for six months in a correctional home for boys.

When he heard that his mother and one of his sisters had fallen ill, Saint-Just finally agreed to attend law school in accordance with his mother's wishes, and he was released. In May of 1789, Saint-Just anonymously published an epic, and at times pornographic, poem titled Organt which he wrote during his time in the correctional home. Organt satirized almost every aspect of French society, from the church to the courts. This poem, though considered to be somewhat poorly written, was the beginning of Saint-Just's part in revoluting against the ancien regime.

Saint-Just was eager to take part in the turmoil that was beginning to rise within France, but he was considered by most to be too young; he was unsuccessful in his attempt to be elected to the new Legislative Assembly. In 1791, Saint-Just wrote Esprit de la Révolution et de la Constitution de France, which sold out almost immediately. However, he was still far from the action in Paris.

Finally in 1792, Saint-Just was elected deputy from Soissons for the National Convention, and he was at last able to come to Paris. There he made speeches calling for the death of the king and thus made a name for himself. In January of 1793, Saint-Just became president of the Jacobin Club. Involved in the Committee of Public Safety and the Convention, he made several speeches and reports exercizing his views. He also put forth a detailed plan for a Constitution. On July 10, he was elected to become one of the members of the Committee of Public Safety. His career was further aided by his close relationship with Maximilien Robespierre, whom he admired deeply.

In 1793, as commissioners of the Rhine army, Saint-Just and his friend Philippe Le Bas were sent to the front, where they and the new generals Hoche and Pichegru succeeded in liberating Alsace from Austrian and Prussian invaders. Notably, Saint-Just was able to manage Alsace, which was notorious for revoluntionary opposition, without any executions. Afterwards, Saint-Just moved from the front to Paris, then back again, before returning to Paris once more where he was elected president of the Convention for the month of Ventôse. As president, he made several famous reports, including the well-known Ventôse Decrees of February 26 and March 3, in which property was taken from alledged "enemies of the people" and redistributed among the poor.

However, the most famous of Saint-Just's reports was perhaps the one in which he demanded the arrest of Georges Danton, along with Danton's supporters Camille Desmoulins, Fabre, Delacroix, and Philippeaux. Saint-Just's signature was among those on the warrant for the group's arrest, and after an unfair and uncivilized trial, Danton met his death at the guillotine. Saint-Just was also instrumental in the execution of followers of Jacques René Hébert, a journalist who had written against the Committee of Public Safety. On March 13, 1794, Saint-Just told the Convention that the Hébertistes were plotting against the Revolution.

During this time, Saint-Just was engaged to Henriette Le Bas, the younger sister of Philippe. Philippe had encouraged the relationship, most likely wanting to form a tight-knit group of himself, his friend Saint-Just, Henriette, and Philippe's own wife, Elisabeth Duplay Le Bas (daughter of the Duplays with whom Robespierre lived). However, for unknown reasons the engagement between Saint-Just and Henriette was broken off. Many causes for this have been theorized, some placing blame on Henriette, Saint-Just, or both; but only the effects of the event are truly known. The failed engagement formed a rift between Saint-Just and Le Bas which never healed. Later, just one day before Saint-Just would be executed, Le Bas committed suicide at his feet without being truly reconciled with his former friend.

After Danton's death and the termination of his engagement, Saint-Just returned to the front for the last time, returning briefly to Paris once during this period upon Robespierre's request. Saint-Just returned to Paris for good suddenly in the summer month of Thermidor, where he found Robespierre ill and caught up in a conspiracy led by opposers who wanted him dead. When Saint-Just tried to speak upon Robespierre's behalf in the Convention on 9 Thermidor, he was prevented by an outbreak by the opposition to the Robespierrists.

When the chaos that had ensued died down, Robespierre and Saint-Just had been arrested, along with Le Bas, Couthon, and Robespierre's brother Augustin. The prisoners were temporarily set free, but before they could make any real motion to save themselves, they were once more captured. Le Bas killed himself; Augustin jumped from a window but survived; the crippled Couthon was pushed down a flight of stairs. Robespierre received a bullet to his jaw-- some say he attempted suicide, others that he was shot by another. Saint-Just was the only prisoner uninjured.

The wounded Robespierre was taken to the Tuileries. Saint-Just accompanied him, walking beside his makeshift stretcher and sitting with him through the night. The next day, he was brought to the guillotine with Robespierre. On his way to the scaffold, he paused to kiss Couthon and whisper goodbye to Maxime. Saint-Just then walked to the guillotine to die without any last words.

Finally, a bit of an epilogue: I have been asked where Saint-Just and Robespierre are buried. I didn't know, so I asked the dear viewers of this site. It seems they were buried in the Errancis Cemetery, which was closed in April, 1797. Many of the bones from the cemetery were moved to the Catacombs, so it is possible that Saint-Just's remains reside in either place. For more information on visiting Errancis, please see the Paris page.