Pauline Léon
Date of Birth
September 28, 1768
Date of Death
October 5, 1838
About
Pauline Léon, daughter of a Paris chocolate maker, became active in republican politics during the early years of the Revolution. On 6 March 1792 she presented a petition signed by 319 women requesting the right to organise as a National Guard and bear arms. In May 1793 she helped establish the Society of Revolutionary Republican Women with Claire Lacombe and other activists. Its members supported measures against hoarding, price regulation, republican mobilisation and the compulsory tricolour cockade for women. Léon married Théophile Leclerc in November, but evidence does not show that he directed the society. The Convention prohibited women’s political clubs on 30 October, ending its activities.