Who was the Marquis de Lafayette?

Born in 1757, Lafayette was a French aristocrat who fought in the Continental Army during the American Revolution (1775–83) and became a key figure early in the French Revolution (1787–99). By 1800 he had largely retired from public life, though he received a hero’s welcome when he toured the United States in 1824, and he also played a prominent role in the July Revolution of 1830 in France. He died in 1834.