Maximilien Robespierre

Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre (IPA /maksimiljε̃ fʁα̃swa maʁi izidɔʁ d? ʁɔbεspjεʁ/), (6 May 1758, Arras – 28 July 1794, Paris), known to his contemporaries also as "the Incorruptible", is one of the best known of the leaders of the French Revolution. He was an influential member of the Committee of Public Safety which oversaw the period of the French Revolution in which the revolutionaries consolidated their power, a period which is commonly known as the Reign of Terror. The myth that Robespierre himself became a virtual dictator in his final years is often repeated, but while the Committee of Public Safety was certainly a dictatorial committee, Robespierre was not in his own right a dictator. In Thermidor of the Revolutionary calendar's Year Two he was executed by his conspiring comrades.

Professional and political life

He completed his law studies with distinction, and was admitted as an advocate in 1781. He returned to Arras to seek practice, and to struggle against poverty. His reputation had preceded him, and the Bishop of Arras, M. de Conzié, appointed him criminal judge in the diocese of Arras in March 1782. This appointment, which he soon resigned to avoid pronouncing a sentence of death, did not prevent his practising at the bar, and he quickly became a successful advocate. He then turned to literature and society, and came to be regarded as one of the best writers as well as one of the most popular dandies of Arras.

Related Topics:
1781 - 1782

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In December 1783 he was elected a member of the academy of Arras, the meetings of which he attended regularly. In 1784 he obtained a medal from the academy of Metz for his essay on the question whether the relatives of a condemned criminal should share his disgrace, the prize being divided between him and Pierre Louis de Lacretelle, an advocate and journalist in Paris. Many of his subsequent essays were less successful, but Robespierre was compensated for these failures by his popularity in the literary and musical society at Arras known as the "Rosati," of which Carnot was also a member.

Related Topics:
1783 - 1784 - Metz - Pierre Louis de Lacretelle - Carnot

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In 1788 he took part in the discussion as to the way in which the States-General should be elected, showing clearly and forcibly in his Adresse à la nation artésienne that, if the former mode of election by the members of the provincial estates were again adopted, the new States-General would not represent the people of France.

Related Topics:
1788 - States-General

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Although the leading members of the corporation were elected, Robespierre, their chief opponent, succeeded in getting elected with them. In the assembly of the bailliage rivalry ran still higher, but Robespierre had begun to make his mark in politics with the Avis aux habitants de la campagne (Arras, 1789). With this he secured the support of the country electors, and, although only 30, comparatively poor and lacking patronage, he was elected fifth deputy of the tiers état of Artois to the States-General.

Related Topics:
Bailliage - 1789 - Tiers état

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When the States-General met at Versailles on May 5, 1789, Robespierre's fanatical mindset was already apparent. As Honoré Mirabeau is reported to have said: "That young man believes what he says: he will go far". Robespierre, a fervent supporter of the doctrines of Rousseau, had begun already to shape them into a vision of his own.

Related Topics:
Versailles - May 5 - 1789 - Honoré Mirabeau - Rousseau

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While the Constituent Assembly occupied itself with drawing up a constitution, Robespierre turned from the assembly of provincial lawyers and wealthy bourgeois to the people of Paris. He was a frequent speaker in the Constituent Assembly, often with great success. He was eventually recognized as second only to Pétion de Villeneuve, if second he was, as a leader of the small body of the extreme left, "the thirty voices", as Mirabeau contemptuously called them.

Related Topics:
Constituent Assembly - Constitution - Bourgeois - Paris - Pétion de Villeneuve

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When his instinct told him that his ideas would have no success in the Assembly, he turned to the Society of the Friends of the Constitution, known as the Jacobin Club. This had consisted originally of the Breton deputies only; however, after the Assembly moved to Paris, it began to admit various leaders of the Parisian bourgeoisie to its membership. As time went on, many of the more intelligent artisans and small shopkeepers became members of the club, and among such men Robespierre found his audience. They did more than listen to him: they idolized him; the fanatical leader had found followers. As the wealthier bourgeois of Paris and deputies of a more moderate type seceded to the Club of '89, the influence of the old leaders of the Jacobins (Barnave, Duport, Alexandre de Lameth) diminished; and when they themselves, alarmed at the progress of the Revolution, founded the club of the Feuillants in 1791, the followers of Robespierre dominated the Jacobin Club.

Related Topics:
Jacobin Club - Breton - Club of '89 - Barnave - Duport - Alexandre de Lameth - Feuillant - 1791

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The death of Mirabeau significantly strengthened Robespierre's hand in the Assembly. On May 15, 1791, some accounts placing this on May 16, he proposed and carried the motion that no deputies who sat in the Constituent could sit in the succeeding Assembly. This has been construed by some as indicative of Robespierre's lack of political insight, and his politically suspicious nature.

Related Topics:
Mirabeau - May 15 - 1791 - May 16

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The flight of Louis XVI and his family on June 20 and his subsequent arrest at Varennes resulted in Robespierre declaring himself at the Jacobin Club to be ni monarchiste ni républicain ("neither monarchist nor republican").

Related Topics:
Flight - Louis XVI - June 20 - Varennes - Monarchist - Republic

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After the massacre of the Champ de Mars (on July 17, 1791), in order to be nearer to the Assembly and the Jacobins, he moved to live in the house of Maurice Duplay, a cabinetmaker residing in the Rue Saint-Honoré, and an ardent admirer of Robespierre's. Robespierre lived there (with two short intervals excepted) until his death.

Related Topics:
Champ de Mars - July 17 - 1791 - Maurice Duplay

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On September 30, on the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly, the people of Paris crowned Pétion and Robespierre as the two incorruptible patriots.

Related Topics:
September 30 - Pétion

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With the dissolution of the Assembly he returned for a short visit to Arras, where he met with a triumphant reception. In November he returned to Paris.

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