In 1792, the Place Vendôme became the Place des Piques. The revolutionary section of the Vendôme-Madeleine district – the Section des Piques – comprised 3,450 citizens, the most famous of whom was the powerful Maximilien Robespierre. At first moderate, the members became more radical and appointed Robespierre as section president. Appointed after him in 1793, the Marquis de Sade was president for only one day, frightened by the Convention’s extreme plans. The place was renamed Place Vendôme in 1799 and was named Place Internationale during the Paris Commune in 1871. The Vendôme Column, commissioned by Napoleon I, was inaugurated in 1810.