This article lists Presidents of the French Parliament or, as the case may be, of its lower chamber.
The National Constituent Assembly was created in 1789 out of the Estates-General. It, and the revolutionary legislative assemblies that followed – the Legislative Assembly (1791–1792) and the National Convention (1792–1795), had a quickly rotating Presidency. With the establishment of the Directory in 1795, there were two chambers of the French legislature. The lower, the Council of Five Hundred, also had a quickly rotating chairmanship. Under Napoleon I, the Legislative Corps had all authority to actually enact laws, but was essentially a rubberstamp body, lacking the power to debate legislation. With the restoration of the monarchy, a bicameral system was restored, with a Chamber of Peers and a Chamber of Deputies. The Chamber of Deputies, for the first time, had presidents elected for a substantial period of time.
With the revolution of 1848, the monarchical assemblies were dissolved and replaced again with a unicameral National Assembly, which Napoleon III replaced with a new version of his uncle's Legislative Corps. With the establishment of the Third Republic, the name of Chamber of Deputies was restored; after 1876 it was joined by a Senate as upper house. The Chamber of Deputies was renamed the National Assembly in the constitution of the Fourth Republic, and is still known as that.
Presidents of the National Constituent Assembly (1789–1791)
Presidents of the National Constituent Assembly rotated in short periods. +L'Assemblée Nationale Constituante President Began EndedJean-Sylvain Bailly17 June 17893 July 1789Louis Philippe Joseph, duc d'Orléans3 July 17893 July 1789Jean-Georges Lefranc de Pompignan3 July 178918 July 1789François Alexandre Frédéric, duc de La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt18 July 17893 August 1789Jacques Guillaume Thouret3 August 17893 August 1789Isaac René Guy le Chapelier3 August 178917 August 1789Stanislas, comte de Clermont-Tonnerre17 August 178931 August 1789César Guillaume de La Luzerne31 August 17899 September 1789Stanislas, comte de Clermont-Tonnerre9 September 178928 September 1789Jean-Joseph Mounier28 September 178910 October 1789Emmanuel Marie Michel Philippe Fréteau de Saint-Just10 October 178928 October 1789Armand Gaston Camus28 October 178912 November 1789Jacques Guillaume Thouret12 November 178923 November 1789Raymond de Boisgelin de Cucé23 November 17895 December 1789Emmanuel Marie Michel Philippe Fréteau de Saint-Just5 December 178922 December 1789Jean-Nicolas Démeunier22 December 17894 January 1790François-Xavier de Montesquiou-Fézensac4 January 179018 January 1790Gui-Jean-Baptiste Target18 January 17902 February 1790Jean-Xavier Bureau de Pusy2 February 179016 February 1790Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord16 February 179028 February 1790François-Xavier de Montesquiou-Fézensac28 February 179015 March 1790Jean-Paul Rabaut Saint-Étienne15 March 179027 March 1790Jean-François, baron de Menou27 March 179012 April 1790Charles François, Marquis de Bonnay12 April 179027 April 1790François Henri, comte de Virieu27 April 179029 April 1790Jean-Louis Gouttes29 April 17908 May 1790Jacques Guillaume Thouret8 May 179027 May 1790Bon-Albert Briois de Beaumetz27 May 17908 June 1790Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès8 June 179021 June 1790Louis-Michel Le Peletier de Saint-Fargeau21 June 17905 July 1790Charles François, Marquis de Bonnay5 July 179020 July 1790Jean-Baptiste Treilhard20 July 179031 July 1790Antoine d'André31 July 179016 August 1790Samuel-Pierre Du Pont de Nemours16 August 179030 August 1790Joseph-Henri baron de Jessé30 August 179011 September 1790Jean-Xavier Bureau de Pusy11 September 179025 September 1790Jean-Louis Emmery25 September 17909 October 1790Philippe-Antoine Merlin (known as Merlin de Douai)9 October 179025 October 1790Antoine Barnave25 October 17908 November 1790Charles-Antoine Chasset8 November 179020 November 1790Alexandre de Lameth20 November 17904 December 1790Jérôme Pétion de Villeneuve4 December 179020 December 1790Charles François, Marquis de Bonnay20 December 179020 December 1790Antoine d'André20 December 17904 January 1791Jean-Louis Emmery4 January 179118 January 1791Henri Jean-Baptiste Grégoire18 January 179129 January 1791Honoré-Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau29 January 179114 February 1791Adrien Duport14 February 179126 February 1791Louis-Marie, vicomte de Noailles26 February 179114 March 1791Anne-Pierre, marquis de Montesquiou-Fézensac14 March 179129 March 1791François Denis Tronchet29 March 17919 April 1791Jean-Baptiste-Charles Chabroud9 April 179123 April 1791Jean-François Reubell23 April 17919 May 1791Antoine d'André9 May 179124 May 1791Jean-Xavier Bureau de Pusy24 May 17916 June 1791Luc Dauchy6 June 179119 June 1791Alexandre, vicomte de Beauharnais19 June 17913 July 1791Charles de Lameth3 July 179119 July 1791Jacques Defermon des Chapelières19 July 179130 July 1791Alexandre, vicomte de Beauharnais30 July 179113 August 1791Charles Louis Victor, prince de Broglie13 August 179127 August 1791Théodore Vernier27 August 179110 September 1791Jacques Guillaume Thouret10 September 179130 September 1791
Presidents of the Legislative Assembly (1791–1792)
Presidents of the Legislative Assembly rotated in short periods.
+ L'Assemblée Nationale LegislativePortraitNameDepartmentTook officeLeft office Political group Claude-Emmanuel de Pastoret Paris 3 October 1791 30 October 1791 Feuillants Pierre Victurnien Vergniaud Gironde 30 October 1791 15 November 1791 Jacobins Vincent-Marie Viénot Seine-et-Marne 15 November 1791 28 November 1791 Feuillants Bernard Germain de Lacépède Paris 28 November 1791 10 December 1791 Feuillants Pierre-Édouard Lémontey Rhône 10 December 1791 26 December 1791 Feuillants François de Neufchâteau Vosges 26 December 1791 22 January 1792 Jacobins Marguerite-Élie Guadet Gironde 22 January 1792 7 February 1792 Jacobins Nicolas de Condorcet Paris 7 February 1792 19 February 1792 Jacobins Guillaume-Mathieu Dumas Seine-et-Oise 19 February 1792 4 March 1792 Feuillants Louis-Bernard Guyton de Morveau Côte-d'Or 4 March 1792 19 March 1792 Jacobins Armand Gensonné Gironde 19 March 1792 15 April 1792 Jacobins Félix-Julien-Jean Bigot de Préameneu Ille-et-Vilaine 15 April 1792 29 April 1792 Feuillants Jean-Gérard Lacuée Lot-et-Garonne 29 April 1792 13 May 1792 Feuillants Honoré Muraire Var 13 May 1792 27 May 1792 Feuillants François-Alexandre Tardiveau Ille-et-Vilaine 27 May 1792 10 June 1792 Feuillants Antoine Français de Nantes Loire-Inférieure 10 June 1792 24 June 1792 Independent Louis Stanislas de Girardin Oise 24 June 1792 8 July 1792 Jacobins Jean-Baptiste Annibal Aubert du Bayet Isère 8 July 1792 22 July 1792 Feuillants André-Daniel Laffon de Ladebat Gironde 22 July 1792 7 August 1792 Feuillants Jean-François Honoré Merlet Maine-et-Loire 7 August 1792 20 August 1792 Jacobins Jean-François Delacroix Eure-et-Loir 20 August 1792 2 September 1792 Jacobins Marie-Jean Hérault de Séchelles Paris 2 September 1792 16 September 1792 Jacobins Pierre-Joseph Cambon Hérault 16 September 1792 20 September 1792 Jacobins
Presidents of the National Convention (1792–1795)