拉斐德侯爵(1757～1834年)

Lafayette, marquis de，原名Marie-Joseph-Paul-Yves-Roch-Gilbert du Motier。

法国军事领袖。出身於极富裕的古老贵族家庭，曾为路易十六世朝臣，後为追求荣誉而从军。1777年前往费城，被任命为少将，成为华盛顿的亲密朋友，并在布兰迪万河战役中立下赫赫战功。1779年返回法国，说服路易派6,000士兵去帮助殖民者，并於1780年回到美洲指挥维吉尼亚州的军队，协助赢得约克镇围城战役，人们欢呼他为「两个世界的英雄」。1782年再度回到法国，成为开明贵族的领袖，1789年被选入三级会议。他向国民议会提出「人权和公民权利宣言」。後当选为巴黎国民自卫军司令，旨在保护国王，拥护君主立宪。在他的自卫军向练兵场中的请愿群众开枪（1791）後，他就失去了人心而辞职了。1792年指挥军队与奥地利作战，但被奥地利人打败并俘获直到1797年。回到法国後，拉斐德成为绅士农民。波旁王朝复辟期间在众议院（1814～1824）中任职，并在七月革命（1830）时领导国民自卫军。

English version：

1757～1834年

Lafayette, marquis de

French military leader. Born to an ancient noble family of great wealth, he was a courtier at the court of Louis XVI but sought glory as a soldier. In 1777 he went to Philadelphia, was appointed a major general, became a close friend of George Washington, and fought with distinction at the Battle of the Brandywine. He returned to France in 1779, persuaded Louis to send a 6,000-man force to aid the colonists, and returned to America in 1780 to command an army in Virginia and help win the Siege of Yorktown. Hailed as “the Hero of Two Worlds,” he returned to France in 1782, became a leader of liberal aristocrats, and was elected to the Estates General in 1789. He presented the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen to the National Assembly. Elected commander of the national guard of Paris, he sought to protect the king, favoring a constitutional monarchy. When his guards fired on a crowd of petitioners in the Champ de Mars (1791), he lost popularity and resigned his position. He commanded the army against Austria (1792), then defected to the Austrians, who held him captive until 1797. Returning to France, Lafayette became a gentleman farmer. In the Bourbon Restoration, he served in the Chamber of Deputies (1814-24) and commanded the national guard in the July Revolution (1830).