Marquis de Lafayette | |
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Lafayette as a lieutenant general in 1791; portrait by Joseph-Désiré Court | |
Birth name | Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de La Fayette |
Nickname | The Hero of the Two Worlds (Le Héros des Deux Mondes),[1] America’s Favourite Fighting Frenchman |
Born | Chavaniac, France | 6 September 1757
Died | 20 May 1834 Paris, France | (aged 76)
Buried at | Picpus Cemetery |
Allegiance | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Service/branch | |
Years of service | 1771–1792 1830 |
Rank |
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Battles/wars | American Revolutionary War
July Revolution |
Awards | Order of Saint Louis |
Other work |
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Signature | ![]() |
Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette (6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette, was a French aristocrat, politician and liberal thinker. He believed in the Age of Enlightenment and played an important role during the American War of Independence and the French Revolution.[2] In 1789, he presented a draft of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. He worked on the document with Thomas Jefferson, who was the American ambassador in Paris.
Gilbert du Motier was born at the château de Chavaniac, in southern France. His father, Louis Christophe du Motier, was Marquis of La Fayette in his own right. His mother, Marie Louise Jolie de La Rivière, was from an aristocratic family from northern France.
Media related to Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette at Wikimedia Commons