Sieyès, Emmanuel Joseph

Sieyès, Emmanuel Joseph (1748-1836), French statesman, born in Fréjus, and trained for the clergy in Paris. He became a priest in 1773. Sieyès attracted attention in the early days of the French Revolution with a pamphlet, Qu'est-ce que le tiers état? (What Is the Third Estate? 1789). By being cautious, moderate, and usually noncommittal, he remained a figure of some influence through all the stages of the Revolution. He was a member of the Estates-General (1789), the National Convention (1792-1795), the Council of Five Hundred (1795-1799), and the Directory (1799); and Sieyès was one of those who helped launch the political career of Napoleon after the latter had won popularity by his military victories. Together with the French statesman Pierre Roger Ducos and Napoleon, he became a member of the Consulate in 1799. Sieyès framed a national constitution for the regime of Napoleon, but Napoleon greatly revised it, and Sieyès subsequently resigned. After Napoleon's downfall, Sieyès was exiled in 1815 but returned to France in 1830.