Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette

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 Enlightenment and played an important role both in the American War of Independence and the French Revolution. 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 then the American ambassador in Paris.
Birth and family.
Gilbert du Motier was born at the château de Chavaniac, in southern France. His father, Louis Christophe du Motier, was Marquis of La Fayette in his own right. His mother, Marie Louise Jolie de La Rivière, was from an aristocratic family from northern France.