Auguste Tavernier

"Let me out of here! Hold on, Damiens! I'm coming! Death to the tyrant!"

- Auguste Tavernier calling out to Robert-François Damiens, 1789.

Auguste-Claude Tavernier was a prisoner of the Bastille from 1757 to 1789.

Biography
In 1757, Tavernier plotted with to assassinate King Louis XV of France. Damiens failed to kill Louis, and was executed, while Tavernier was imprisoned in the Bastille and declared insane.

On 14 July 1789, the Bastille was stormed by rioting Parisians. While Tavernier insisted that he see Damiens, the guards locked him inside his cell. The rioters eventually freed Tavernier, however he was soon transferred to the.