About

A lawyer from Arras elected to represent the Third Estate of Artois in 1789, Robespierre emerged in the Constituent Assembly as a persistent advocate of civil and political equality. He opposed property qualifications for citizenship, defended civic rights for Jews and free men of colour, argued against capital punishment and later opposed the decision to go to war in 1792. His speeches in the Assembly and at the Jacobin Club brought him a national reputation for political consistency and made him one of the Revolution’s most influential public figures. Elected to the Convention for Paris, he sat with the Mountain, voted for the execution of Louis XVI and supported the removal of the leading Girondin deputies. He joined the Committee of Public Safety in July 1793 and took part in the collective direction and public defence of the revolutionary government. He supported measures intended to secure subsistence and extend political equality, but also defended emergency laws and prosecutions against those regarded as enemies of the Republic. Arrested after his opponents united against him on 9 Thermidor, he was guillotined the following day.