Lucie-Simplice-Camille-Benoît Desmoulins
Date of Birth
March 2, 1760
Date of Death
April 5, 1794
About
A lawyer and journalist, Camille Desmoulins called upon the crowd at the Palais-Royal to take up arms on 12 July 1789 and later represented Paris in the Convention. In Le Vieux Cordelier, published in late 1793 and early 1794, he criticised aspects of the revolutionary government, argued for the release of unjustly detained prisoners and proposed a committee of clemency. Arrested with Danton and several of their associates, he was convicted and guillotined on 5 April 1794. His wife, Lucile, was convicted in a separate trial and executed eight days later.