(zhārōm' pātyôN' də vēlnöv') , 1756–94, French revolutionary. A leader of the Jacobins, Pétion sat in the Constituent Assembly, was elected (Nov., 1791) mayor of Paris over the marquis de Lafayette, and by inaction aided the antiroyal demonstration of June 20, 1792. Elected to the Convention, he clashed with Maximilien Robespierre and allied himself with the Girondists. Early in June his arrest was ordered but he escaped; he died probably by suicide while in hiding near Bordeaux.