Maximilien Robespierre
Learn about Robespierre — the Jacobin leader who championed the rights of man then led the Reign of Terror, embodying the French Revolution's promise and tragedy.
Maximilien Robespierre (1758–1794) is one of history's most controversial figures — a man who championed democracy, human rights, and the abolition of slavery, and who also presided over the Reign of Terror, during which perhaps 17,000 people were guillotined in the name of revolutionary virtue. His career embodies both the idealism and the horror of the French Revolution.
Robespierre rose to prominence as a lawyer and member of the National Assembly, where his incorruptible reputation (he was nicknamed 'the Incorruptible') and passionate advocacy for the poor, for universal male suffrage, and for the abolition of slavery made him a hero of the radical Jacobin faction. He was instrumental in the establishment of the French Republic and the execution of Louis XVI.
As the dominant member of the Committee of Public Safety (1793–1794), Robespierre directed the Reign of Terror — a campaign of revolutionary justice (or injustice) that executed suspected counter-revolutionaries, hoarders, and political opponents. Robespierre justified the Terror as the necessary defense of the revolution against its enemies: 'Terror is nothing other than justice, prompt, severe, inflexible.' When the Terror began consuming revolutionaries themselves, his colleagues turned against him. He was arrested and guillotined on July 28, 1794 — consumed by the revolution he had done so much to create.