Lazare Carnot
| Lazare Carnot | |
|---|---|
 |
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| President of the National Convention | |
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In office 20 May 1794 – 4 June 1794 |
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| Preceded by | Robert Lindet |
| Succeeded by | Claude-Antoine Prieur-Duvernois |
| Member of the Committee of Public Safety | |
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In office 14 August 1793 – 6 October 1794 |
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| Director of the French Directory | |
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In office 4 November 1795 – 5 September 1797 |
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| Preceded by | None |
| Succeeded by | Philippe-Antoine Merlin de Douai |
| Minister of War | |
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In office 2 April 1800 – 8 October 1800 |
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| Preceded by | Louis-Alexandre Berthier |
| Succeeded by | Louis-Alexandre Berthier |
| Minister of the Interior | |
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In office 20 March 1815 – 22 June 1815 |
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| Monarch | Napoleon I |
| Preceded by | François-Xavier-Marc-Antoine de Montesquiou-Fézensac |
| Succeeded by | Claude Carnot-Feulin |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
13 May 1753 Nolay, Côte-d'Or |
| Died | 2 August 1823 (aged 70) Magdeburg, Prussia |
| Political party | Independent |
| Children |
Sadi Carnot Lazare Hippolyte Carnot |
| Profession | Mathematician, engineer, military commander, politician |
| Religion | Roman Catholicism |
Lazare Nicolas Marguerite, Count Carnot (13 May 1753 – 2 August 1823) was a French politician, engineer, freemason and mathematician. He was known as the Organizer of Victory in the French Revolutionary Wars.
Born on May 13, 1753 in the village of Nolay, Côte-d'Or, Carnot was the son of local judge and royal notary, Claude Carnot and his wife, Marguerite Pothier. He was the second oldest of seven children. At the age of fourteen, Lazare and his brother were enrolled at the Collège d’Autun, in Burgundy where he focused on the study of philosophy and the classics. He held a strong belief in stoic philosophy and was deeply influenced by Roman civilization. When he turned fifteen, he left the Collège d’Autun to strengthen his philosophical knowledge and study under the Society of the Priests of Saint Sulpice. During his short time with them, he studied logic, mathematics and theology under the Abbe Bison. After being impressed with Lazare’s work as a scholar, the Duke D’Aumont (Marquis de Nolay) recommended a military career for the young one and was soon sent by his father to the Aumont residence to further his education. Here, he was enrolled in M. de Longpres pension school in 1770 until he was ready to enter one of two prestigious engineering and artillery schools in Paris. A year later, in February of 1771, he was ranked the third highest among twelve who were chosen out of his class of more than one hundred who took the entrance exams. It was at this point when he entered the Mézières School of Engineering appointed as second lieutenant. Studies at the Mézières included geometry, mechanics, geometrical designing, geography, hydraulics and material preparation. On January 1, 1773, he graduated the school ranked as first lieutenant. He was eighteen years old.
It was here where he met and studied with Benjamin Franklin and at the age of twenty and obtained commission as a lieutenant in the Prince of Condé’s engineer corps. At this moment, he made a name for himself both in the line of (physics) theoretical engineering and in his work in the field of fortifications. While in the army, he continued his study of mathematics. In 1784 he published his first work Essay on Machines, which contained a statement that foreshadowed the principle of energy as applied to a falling weight, and the earliest proof that kinetic energy is lost in the collision of imperfectly elastic bodies. This publication earned him the honor of admittance to a literary society. Another turning point was his essay on Vauban in which he praises the engineer on his works while at the same time developing his own career as a writer/engineer. Vauban's work had a profound effect on his work as a general and engineer. In that same year, he also received a promotion to the rank of captain.
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