Joseph Lakanal (1762–1845) was a native of southern France who changed his name from Lacanal to distinguish himself from his royalist relatives. He trained for the Catholic priesthood and served as a teacher of rhetoric and philosophy at various schools before he became involved in revolutionary politics. Elected to the National Convention in 1792, Lakanal voted for the execution of Louis XVI the following year. He worked for educational reform in France and was elected president of the Committee of Public Instruction in 1794. After Napoleon came to power, Lakanal held a series of minor teaching and administrative positions. As inspector of weights and measures, 1809–15, he was charged with implementing the metric system. Lakanal immigrated to America in 1816 following the restoration of Louis XVIII and lived in Kentucky for six years. In 1817 he was involved in a plot to free Napoleon from exile. Lakanal moved to New Orleans in 1822 and served as president of Orleans College for about a year before moving to Mobile, Alabama. In 1837 he returned to France, where he died. Lakanal was a member of both the Institut de France and the Légion d’honneur (John Charles Dawson, Lakanal the Regicide: A Biographical and Historical Study of the Career of Joseph Lakanal [1948]; Hoefer, Nouv. biog. générale description begins J. C. F. Hoefer, Nouvelle biographie générale depuis les temps les plus reculés jusqu’a nos jours, 1852–83, 46 vols. description ends , 27:931–5; ASP, Public Lands, 4:149–50; Lakanal, Exposé Sommaire des Travaux de Joseph Lakanal [1838]; gravestone inscription in Cimetière du Père Lachaise, Paris).