Jean-Paul Marat

Born

24 May 1743

Died

13 July 1793

Trained as a physician, Marat became a prominent political journalist through L’Ami du peuple, which scrutinised ministers, representatives, municipal authorities and military commanders while defending popular sovereignty and greater provision for the poor. His reporting and political argument were accompanied by personal denunciations and calls for exceptional punishment. Elected to the Convention for Paris in 1792, he became a determined opponent of deputies associated with the Gironde. In April 1793, the Convention sent him before the Revolutionary Tribunal on charges arising from his writings and a Jacobin circular, including alleged incitement to pillage, murder and the Convention’s dissolution. Acquitted on 24 April, he was killed by Charlotte Corday on 13 July. The Commune, sections, clubs and Convention organised commemorations and displayed his image, but this public cult remained contested and was repudiated in 1795.

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