Abbé Sieyès
Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès was a clergyman and political theorist whose 1789 pamphlet 'What is the Third Estate?' became the foundational manifesto of the Revolution by arguing that the common people constituted the true nation. He played a key role in drafting the Tennis Court Oath and served in the National Convention, surviving the Terror through careful obscurity. In 1799 he co-orchestrated the 18 Brumaire coup with Napoleon, believing he could use the general as a political instrument — a calculation that proved spectacularly wrong.
- Lived: 1748 CE – 1836 CE
- Nationality: french
- Roles: political theorist, abbé, politician
