Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès

Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès, usually known as the Abbé Sieyès, was a French Catholic priest and political writer, one of the leading theorists of the French Revolution. Born in Fréjus, he was educated for the priesthood but drawn to the Enlightenment thinkers, and rose to be vicar general of Chartres. His pamphlet What Is the Third Estate? of January 1789 became the Revolution's political manifesto and helped turn the Estates-General into the National Assembly in June 1789. He voted for the death of Louis XVI, lived through the Terror, became a director in 1799 and was among the instigators of the Coup of 18 Brumaire, which brought Napoleon Bonaparte to power. He also coined the term sociologie.