Marc-Guillaume Alexis Vadier

He is primarily known for having created the département of Ariège and mostly for having firmly led the Committee of General Security, thus being one of the key figures of the Reign of Terror and the "dean of its political police."

He managed to avoid reprisals for his role during the Terror, which targeted him following Robespierre's fall, and survived the Revolution, participating in relative anonymity during the First Empire period.

Son of a wealthy family in Pamiers, Ariège, he served in the army of the king Louis XV, taking part in the Seven Years' War and the Battle of Rossbach on 5 November 1757.

Upon his return to France in 1758, Vadier acquired large tracts of land in Pamiers and in 1770 purchased the office of conseiller (magistrate), which brought him into conflict with many of the local aristocracy and affluent bourgeoisie.

[1] He left his office as representative in the National Constituent Assembly of the Constitutional Monarchy (September 1791), returning to Ariège département, becoming president of the district tribunal in Mirepoix, contributing to the creation of new revolutionary institutions throughout the region.

[1] With the overthrow of the monarchy one year later, (10 August 1792), he was elected to the National Convention (3 September), sat among the Montagnards, joined the Jacobin Club, and voted in favor of Louis XVI' execution (sans appel ni sursis – without appeal or delay) on 17 January 1793.

[6] Vadier quickly fell out with Robespierre, particularly due to his militant atheism and the creation of the General Police Bureau by the Committee of Public Safety,[7][8][9][10] while he sought to control repression.

"[3] In Nivôse Year II (January 1794), along with Amar, he exposed the wrongdoings of Fabre d'Églantine, Chabot, and their associates, including Danton, and initiated the trial targeting the Dantonists.

"[7] He also played a role in setting up the trial of Camille Desmoulins, who had accused him in the Vieux Cordelier, stating about Vadier: "Marat denounced him as the most infamous renegade.

[23] On 26 Prairial Year II (14 June 1794), Élie Lacoste presented his report on the alleged Batz conspiracy, which led to the execution of fifty-four individuals.

[3] Another day, while he was walking in the street, he was arrested and roughed up by Muscadins, groups of reactionary, royalist, and generally bourgeois young men in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, but he emerged unharmed.

[7] While he was a member of the Thermidorians, it is acknowledged that a significant portion of the repressive measures during the Terror and the executions can be attributed to the Committee of General Security, which he led.