Curated playlist
French Freemasons
- VoltaireThe line Voltaire is most quoted for was written in 1906, long after he died.
- Alexandre DumasIn 2002, France moved Alexandre Dumas's ashes to the Pantheon, with guards dressed as the four Musketeers.
- MontesquieuMontesquieu published The Spirit of Law anonymously in 1748, and the Church banned it in 1751.
- Marc ChagallMarc Chagall fled Europe in 1941 on a ship carrying 119 refugee children. He taught them drawing.
- Marquis de LafayetteThe Marquis de Lafayette lies buried in Picpus Cemetery in Paris, beneath soil carried across the Atlantic from Bunker Hill in Massachusetts. He gathered that earth himself, intending it for his grave. Americans call him simply Lafayette.…
- Jacques-Louis DavidNapoleon never sat for David's painting of his own coronation. Pope Pius VII did, and blessed the painter.
- Joseph BonaparteJoseph Bonaparte hid on a ship under a false name while British officers searched it three times.
- Jean-Baptiste KléberBritain refused Kléber's deal to send his army home from Egypt, so he attacked instead.
- Paul BarrasPaul Barras helped rule France as a Director, then Napoleon interned him in Montpellier.
- Charles XIV JohnBernadotte threw his epaulettes on the ground to stop his retreating soldiers. They picked them up and counter-attacked.
- Jean-Jacques-Régis de CambacérèsCambacérès voted to convict Louis XVI but wanted the execution delayed. That careful vote later helped save him.
- Joseph FouchéJoseph Fouché voted to execute Louis XVI, then served the dead king's brother.