French lawyer and journalist. Born 1736, died 1794.
For his provocative political journalism, Linguet was exiled from France twice before the French Revolution, settling in London for some time. It was in London that he founded the newspaper Les annales politiques, civiles et littéraires du dix-huitième siécle - Annales politiques, for short.
Returning to Paris, he took on Jacques Mallet du Pan as coeditor of the newspaper. When Linguet was thrown in the Bastille (1780-1782), Mallet du Pan kept the paper running by himself.
Once out of the Bastille, Linguet returned to London. While there, he published Mémoires sur la Bastille (1783), which paints a vivid picture of life as a prisoner of the Bastille.
He went back to Paris in 1790, still keeping a high profile in political journalism. In 1794, he was arrested and executed on the charge of "having flattered the despots of Vienna and London".