GIRONDISTS, the name given to a political party in the Legislative Assembly and National Convention during the French Revolution (1791-93) (Fr. Girondins). The name was first given them because the most brilliant exponents of their point of view Gensonne, Guadet—were deputies from the Gironde. In the Legislative Assembly these represented a compact body of opinion which, though not as yet definitely republican, was con siderably more advanced than the moderate royalism of the majority of the Parisian deputies. Associated with these views was a group of deputies from other parts of France, of whom the most notable were Condorcet, Jacques Pierre Brissot, Roland and Petion. On the policy of the Girondists Madame Roland, whose salon became their gathering-place, exercised a powerful influence (see ROLAND) ; but such party cohesion as they pos sessed they owed to the energy of Brissot (q.v.) who came to be regarded as their mouthpiece. Hence the name Brissotins, coined by Camille Desmoulins. As strictly party designations these first came into use after the assembling of the National Convention (Sept. 20, 1792), to which a large proportion of the deputies from the Gironde who had sat in the Legislative Assembly were returned. For the struggle of the Girondists with the Montagnards and their ultimate downfall, see FRANCE: History.