Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette

Marquis de Lafayette
Lafayette as a lieutenant general in 1791; portrait by Joseph-Désiré Court
Birth name	Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de La Fayette
Nickname	The Hero of the Two Worlds (Le Héros des Deux Mondes),[1] America’s Favourite Fighting Frenchman
Born	(1757-09-06)6 September 1757 Chavaniac, France
Died	20 May 1834(1834-05-20) (aged 76) Paris, France
Buried at	Picpus Cemetery
Allegiance	Kingdom of France (1771–1777, 1781–1791)  United States (1777–1781) Kingdom of France (1791–1792) French First Republic (1792) Kingdom of France (1830)
Service/branch	French Army Continental Army National Guard (France)
Years of service	1771–1792 1830
Rank	Major general (U.S.) Lieutenant general (France)
Battles/wars	American Revolutionary War Battle of Brandywine Battle of Gloucester Valley Forge Battle of Barren Hill Battle of Rhode Island Battle of Monmouth Battle of Green Spring Siege of Yorktown French Revolution The March on Versailles Day of Daggers Champ de Mars massacre War of the First Coalition July Revolution
Awards	Order of Saint Louis
Other work	Politician Estates General (Auvergne) Member of the National Assembly Chamber of Representatives Chamber of Deputies
Signature

Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette (6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette, was a French aristocrat, politician and liberal thinker. He believed in the Age of Enlightenment and played an important role during the American War of Independence and the French Revolution.^[2] In 1789, he presented a draft of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. He worked on the document with Thomas Jefferson, who was the American ambassador in Paris.

1. ↑ Carlier Jeannie, Lafayette, Héros des deux Mondes, Payot, 1988.
2. ↑ Gregory Payan, Marquis de Lafayette: French Hero of the American Revolution (New York: PowerPlus Books, 2002), pp. 5–6