Georges-Auguste Couthon
Date of Birth
December 22, 1755
Date of Death
July 28, 1794
About
A lawyer from Auvergne who had lost the use of his legs, Couthon became a member of the Committee of Public Safety and a close political ally of Robespierre and Saint-Just. He supported social and legal reform while also defending the emergency legislation of Year II. On 22 Prairial, he presented a law that broadened the jurisdiction of the Revolutionary Tribunal and greatly restricted the defence available to the accused. Arrested with Robespierre and Saint-Just on 9 Thermidor, he was guillotined with them the following day.