Bailly, Jean Sylvain (1736-1793)

French statesman and astronomer. He wrote about the satellites of Jupiter and the history of astronomy. Early in the French Revolution he was president of the third estate and of the national assembly, and was mayor of Paris 1789-91; he was guillotined during the Reign of Terror on a charge of conspiracy.

He was elected a member of the French Academy 1784. He allowed soldiers to fire on the mob in the Champs de Mars July 1791, and immediately lost his popularity and resigned. His most famous publication was Histoire de l'astronomie 1775-87.