Danton

Rue Danton is a street located in the Monnaie district in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. It is served by Metro line 4 at Saint-Michel station, as well as by RATP bus lines 21-27-38-63-85-86. The street has been named after Danton, who lived nearby, since 1890. Danton Street is a recent street in this very old district with immediate streets around dating back to the 12th century. It was only opened in 1888 between rue Suger and rue Serpente and in 1895 between rue Serpente and boulevard Saint-Germain. The first Parisian building to use the reinforced concrete technique of the Hennebique System was built at No. 1 in 1900 by the engineer François Hennebique and the architect Édouard Arnaud. The backgrounds of the building's facade were decorated with Art Nouveau ceramics or mosaics, by the ceramist Alexandre Bigot. Jack Lang, a French politician, lived in rue Danton. The street is named after the character Danton. Georges Jacques Danton, also known as d'Anton, born in Arcis-sur-Aube and guillotined in Paris, was a lawyer in the King's Council and a French politician, Minister of Justice. Danton was one of the major figures of the French Revolution who possessed a prodigious oratorical talent and an impetuous, pleasure-seeking temperament. He embodied the "Fatherland in danger" in the tragic hours of the invasion of August 1792, when he tried to unite all the energies of the nation against the enemy and to use every expedient. He did not hesitate, out of pragmatism, to enter into secret negotiations with the coalised monarchs in order to negotiate a rapid peace. He quickly built up a legend around himself. For some historians, Danton is an unscrupulous politician, venal, capable of betraying the Revolution, for others, he is an ardent democrat, a steadfast patriot, a generous statesman.