Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de La Fayette, Marquis de La Fayette (French pronunciation: [maʁki də la fajɛt]; 6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), in the U.S. often known simply as Lafayette, was a French aristocrat and military officer born in Chavaniac, in the province of Auvergne in south central France. Lafayette was a general in the American Revolutionary War and a leader of the Garde nationale during the French Revolution.