Paul François Jean Nicolas Barras Vicomte de

Barras, Paul François Jean Nicolas, Vicomte de (1755–1829), French revolutionary. At first a Jacobin, in favor of Louis XVI's execution, he later became the most powerful member of the Directory (the revolutionary government) and aided Napoleon's rise to power. He was exiled after Napoleon's coup d'état of Brumaire (1799).

See also: French language.