Avenue Mirabeau

Honor Gabriel de Mirabeau was born in the castle of Birgnon in 1749. A child depicted by the little girl, he grew up with difficulty in the midst of a cruel father. His ugliness is compensated by a remarkable intelligence and liveliness of mind. As a teenager, he led a life of crime and was imprisoned several times. He was detained for three years in Vincennes prison for having kidnapped the Marquise de Monnier. He writes his famous "Letters to Sophie"

At his release (1780), he tries to support himself by writing political texts that often cause scandal. Favourable to the Revolution and thanks to the generosity of his frequency, he was elected to the Tiers-état of Aix en Provence then to the National Assembly. Preaching a constitutional monarchy, he often opposed the King and the court. However, from 1790, he maintained a secret relationship of advisor with the monarch. The following year, he took the head of the Assembly but died shortly after.