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Maximilien Robespierre

French revolutionary lawyer and politician (1758-1794) · France · Activists · Died at 36

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The architect of the Reign of Terror who sent thousands to the guillotine in the name of revolutionary virtue - before the revolution devoured him. His ten months on the Committee of Public Safety redefined political violence as moral duty, and his name still splits historians between monster and idealist.

PoliticiansPoliticianPoliticsLawJournalismFranceEuropeEarly Modern Era

A life in dates

1794Died28 July 1794President of the National ConventionOffice1793“Citizens, imagination usually sets the limits of the possible and the impossible; but when you have the will to do good, you must have the courage to cross these limits.”In their words13 August 1793, Presenting his education plan to the National Convention

“Freedom can never be found by the use of a foreign force”In their words5 February 1793Opposing the annexation of Belgium, 5th February 1793. Robespierre, Oeuvres, v. 270

President of the National ConventionOffice1758Born6 May 1758

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Photos 8

RobespierreRobespierre05 Robespierre saved from the assassins-Illust by Johan Schonberg for In the Reign of Terror by G A Henty05 Robespierre saved from the assassins-Illust by Johan Schonberg for In the Reign of Terror by G A HentyAndré Émile Larcher - RobespierreAndré Émile Larcher - RobespierreApprehension of Robespierre July 27.1794.Arrestation de Robespierre le 27 Juillet 1794. G.29642(2)Apprehension of Robespierre July 27.1794.Arrestation de Robespierre le 27 Juillet 1794. G.29642(2)Apprehension of Robespierre July 27.1794.Arrestation de Robespierre le 27 Juillet 1794. G.29642Apprehension of Robespierre July 27.1794.Arrestation de Robespierre le 27 Juillet 1794. G.29642Arrestation de Robespierre le 27 juillet 1794Arrestation de Robespierre le 27 juillet 1794Arrestation de RobespierreArrestation de RobespierreBodleian Libraries, The life of William Cobbett written by himself No 7Bodleian Libraries, The life of William Cobbett written by himself No 7

In their own words 10

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Maximilien Robespierre
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10 statements, newest first

  1. Citizens, imagination usually sets the limits of the possible and the impossible; but when you have the will to do good, you must have the courage to cross these limits.

    Aug 13, 1793, 13 August 1793, Presenting his education plan to the National Convention, Own words

  2. Freedom can never be found by the use of a foreign force

    Feb 5, 1793, Opposing the annexation of Belgium, 5th February 1793. Robespierre, Oeuvres, v. 270, Own words

  3. The general will rules in society as the private will governs each separate individual.

    , Own words

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Maximilien Robespierre was a French lawyer who rose through the Revolution on principle: he fought for universal male suffrage, the abolition of the slave trade, and the right of common citizens to bear arms. Elected to the National Convention in September 1792, he became a radical Jacobin leader, and by July 1793 sat on the Committee of Public Safety. Disillusionment with fellow revolutionaries drove him to justify the harsh measures of the Terror - summary trials, mass executions, the machinery of virtue enforced at knifepoint. The Convention turned on him. On 9 Thermidor, he was arrested and guillotined the next day without trial, along with around 90 others. His legacy remains bitterly contested: a man of progressive vision whose methods became the template for revolutionary repression.

Country
France
Category
Activists
Type
Activist
Status
deceased
Dates
Lived 1758 to 1794 · aged 36

Activists from France 6

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