Johann Christian Claudius Devaranne (March 8, 1784 – July 20, 1813) was one of the leaders of the Russian Truncheon Insurgency directed against Napoleon I of France

Napoleon I of France

Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...

's military occupation of Solingen

Solingen

Solingen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the northern edge of the region called Bergisches Land, south of the Ruhr area, and with a 2009 population of 161,366 is the second largest city in the Bergisches Land...

 in Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

's North Rhine-Westphalia

North Rhine-Westphalia

North Rhine-Westphalia is the most populous state of Germany, with four of the country's ten largest cities. The state was formed in 1946 as a merger of the northern Rhineland and Westphalia, both formerly part of Prussia. Its capital is Düsseldorf. The state is currently run by a coalition of the...

. Up through the time of his involvement with the insurgency, Devaranne operated an inn and hardware store in Solingen's Wald district.

Napoléon's losses, resulting from the French invasion of Russia

French invasion of Russia

The French invasion of Russia of 1812 was a turning point in the Napoleonic Wars. It reduced the French and allied invasion forces to a tiny fraction of their initial strength and triggered a major shift in European politics as it dramatically weakened French hegemony in Europe...

, prompted him to conscript replacements from the populations under his control. Among these were the citizenry of Solingen. Napoléon's draft announcement quickly generated resistance. On learning of the resistance, Napoléon dispatched troops to suppress it. Devaranne was identified as one of the leaders and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

Devaranne's housemaid turned him in to the French for a 100 Franc reward. When Devaranne returned to his home, French soldiers were waiting to arrest him. He was tried with other resistance leaders and executed by firing squad in Düsseldorf

Düsseldorf

Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...

.

Life

J. C. C. Devaranne was born in Hanau

Hanau

Hanau is a town in the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is located 25 km east of Frankfurt am Main. Its station is a major railway junction.- Geography :...

, Germany to Peter Devaranne (April 2, 1761 - November 18, 1824) and Elisabeth Jost (April 1759 - January 2, 1813). He was most likely their eldest child, because he was born almost exactly one year after his parents' March 10, 1783 marriage. He had three known siblings: Marianne Karoline Devaranne (June 14, 1788 - ), Christian Heinrich Devaranne (1790 - October 25, 1813), and Johanna Elisabeth Devaranne (April 6, 1794 - June 16, 1869). His father was a locksmith.

The Devaranne family probably left France during the time of the Huguenot

Huguenot

The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France during the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the 17th century, people who formerly would have been called Huguenots have instead simply been called French Protestants, a title suggested by their German co-religionists, the...

 pogroms and the Walloon

Walloons

Walloons are a French-speaking people who live in Belgium, principally in Wallonia. Walloons are a distinctive community within Belgium, important historical and anthropological criteria bind Walloons to the French people. More generally, the term also refers to the inhabitants of the Walloon...

 Congregation in Hanau took them in. The Walloon Congregation was founded by reformed emigrants, who settled in Hanau in the year 1594.

It is not known when Devaranne moved to Solingen's Wald district, however an invoice survives that he delivered himself and signed as a receipt. It can be inferred from the date on the invoice that he already had a hardware business in Wald before December 1, 1806. Devaranne was 22 years old at this time.

He married Catharina Margaretha Friederika Hager on March 9, 1805. They were the parents of Auguste Emilie (February 2, 1806 - ?), Eduard Julius , Wilhemine Theadora (August 25, 1807 - ?), Albertine Juliane (February 23, 1810 - ?), and Henrietta Augusta (October 6, 1811 - July 29, 1817).

Heroic mythology creation

On July 23, 1933, the City of Solingen dedicated a memorial plaque commemorating the 120th anniversary of J. C. C. Devaranne's execution. Devaranne had become a hero of the Nazi regime in Solingen. In local newspaper reports of the event, he is repeatedly compared with other Nazi heroes like Albert Leo Schlageter

Albert Leo Schlageter

Albert Leo Schlageter was a member of the German Freikorps. His activities sabotaging French occupying troops after World War I led to his arrest and eventual execution by French forces. His death created an image of martyrdom around him, which was cultivated by German nationalist groups, in...

, Horst Wessel

Horst Wessel

Horst Ludwig Wessel was a German Nazi activist who was made a posthumous hero of the Nazi movement following his violent death in 1930...

 and Shill's Officers

Ferdinand von Schill

Ferdinand Baptista von Schill was a Prussian officer who revolted unsuccessfully against French domination in May 1809.-Life:...

. The memorial plaque disappeared after the end of the Second World War. Its whereabouts are currently unknown.

At some point, a street near the center of Solingen's Wald district was named in honor of Devaranne. The street bears his name to this day.