(born May 6, 1758, Arras, France—died July 28, 1794, Paris) French revolutionary. A successful lawyer in Arras (1781–89), he was elected to the National Assembly (1789), where he became notorious as an outspoken radical in favour of individual rights.
He became a leading member of the Montagnards in the National Convention. After calling for the death of Louis XVI, he led the Jacobins (&see; Jacobin Club) and the Committee of Public Safety (1793) in establishing the Reign of Terror, during which, as virtual dictator of France, he had former friends such as Georges Danton executed. Despite earlier support from the people of Paris, who called him “the Incorruptible,” he lost his dominating authority and was overthrown and guillotined in the Thermidorian Reaction. Often regarded as a bloodthirsty dictator, he was later valued for his social ideals of reducing inequality and ensuring work for all.
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