Armand-Guy-Simon de Coetnempren, comte de Kersaint, in short Armand de Kersaint (29 July 17424 December 1793), was a French sailor and politician. A Girondin, Kersaint held important naval posts during the early stages of the French Revolution. Biography Early life and career Born in Paris, Kersaint came from a noble family; his father, Guy François de Coetnempren, comte de Kersaint, was a distinguished naval officer. Armand de Kersaint joined the French Navy as a Garde-Marine on 5 September 1755. In 1757, while serving on his father's ship, he was promoted to Ensign for his bravery in action. He was promoted to Lieutenant on 1 February 1770, and to Captain on 13 March 1779. In July 1778, as captain of the 32-gun Iphigénie, he captured the 20-gun British post-ship . In 1782 Kersaint led an expedition to capture the British-held Dutch colonies of Demerara, Essequibo, and Berbice. At the outbreak of the Revolution, Kersaint embraced reform. He adopted the new ideas, and in a pamphlet entitled Le Bon Sens (a title inspired by Thomas Paine's Common Sense) attacked traditional privileges; he also submitted to the National Constituent Assembly a scheme for the reorganisation of the navy, but it was not accepted. In the Legislative Assembly On 4 January 1791 Kersaint was appointed administrator of the département of the Seine by the electoral assembly of Paris. He was also elected as a deputé suppléant to the Legislative Assembly, and was called upon to sit in it in place of a deputy who had resigned. His main objective became the realisation of the navy scheme which he had previously submitted to the Constituent Assembly. He understood this to be made possible only through a general reform of all institutions, and subsequently gave his support to the policies of The Mountain, denouncing the conduct of King Louis XVI, and, on 10 August 1792 (after the storming of the Tuileries Palace), voting in favour of his deposition. Shortly after, he was sent on a mission to the Armée du Centre, inspecting Soissons, Reims, Sedan and the Ardennes. While on assignment, Kersaint was arrested by the municipality of Sedan, but was set free after a few days' detention. Back in Paris, he took an active part in one of the last debates of the Legislative Assembly, in which it was decided to publish a Bulletin officiel, a report continued by the National Convention, and known by