RASPAIL, res'pa'y' Friuscoie Vincent, French politician and scientist: b. Carpentras, 29 Jan. 1794; d. Arcueil, 7 Jan, 187& He went in 1816 to Paris. He took part in the July Revolution of 1830, -and later -establiahed a journal, Le Riformatenr, ,which -in 1834 was suppressed by the government, while in 1835 its editor was condemned to a six months' im prisonment On 24 Feb. 1848, at the head of a mob, he penetrated to the council chamber of theprovisional government, which he compelled forthwith to proclaim the republic. He then founded (is People, later called Demo cratie•Pafifigue, in which he proclaimed Jacobin principles. On 15 May he was a leader of the invaders of the Palais Bourbon and the hall of the National Assembly; for this he was condemned to six years in prison, but in 1855 the sentence was commuted to banishment. He lived in Brussels, 'but returned to France under the amnesty of 1859, was elected to the Corps Legislatif in 1869, retired to private life during the Commune, and from 1876 was a member of the Chamber of Deputies. From
1824 till 1830 he contributed many scientific articles, especially on chemistry, to the 'Annals of the Natural Sciences' and other works, and by many has been considered the creator of the system of organic chemistry. Among his works were 'Annales des Sciences d'Observa tion' (1829-30) ; 'Recherches Chimiques et Physiques sur le Developpement des Tissus (1827) ; !Cours Elementaire d'Agri culture et d'Economie Rurale' (1831) ; 'Sys teme Nouveau de Physiologic Vegetale et de (1836) • 'Systeme de Clumie Organ (1837); Naturelle des Am (1842); 'Nouvelles Etudes Scienti fiques et Philologigues' (1865) ; 'Reformes So ciales) (1872). Consult Marchal, 'Biographic de F. V. Raspail' (1848) ; Querard, 'La France 'Nouvelle Biographic Generale.)