author
Maximilien Robespierre
1758–1794
A lawyer from Arras who became one of the most powerful and feared voices of the French Revolution, he remains one of history’s most contested political figures. His rise through the Jacobin movement and his fall in 1794 helped define the drama and violence of the Revolution’s most intense years.
7 Audiobooks
Oeuvres par Maximilien Robespierre — Miscellaneous
by Maximilien Robespierre
Discours par Maximilien Robespierre — 21 octobre 1789-1er juillet 1794
by Maximilien Robespierre
Le carnet de Robespierre (septembre-décembre 1793)
by Maximilien Robespierre
Reproduction, par les procédés héliographiques Motteroz, du Carnet de Robespierre trouvé sur lui au moment de son arrestation
by Maximilien Robespierre
Discours par Maximilien Robespierre — 17 Avril 1792-27 Juillet 1794
by Maximilien Robespierre
Projet de la constitution française de 1791
by Maximilien Robespierre
Discours par Maximilien Robespierre — 5 Fevrier 1791-11 Janvier 1792
by Maximilien Robespierre
About the author
Born in Arras in 1758, Maximilien Robespierre trained as a lawyer before entering politics at the start of the French Revolution. He was elected to the Estates-General in 1789 and soon built a reputation as a forceful speaker who argued for political equality, popular sovereignty, and civil rights.
Robespierre became a leading figure in the Jacobin Club and later a central member of the Committee of Public Safety. During the crisis years of 1793 and 1794, he was closely linked with the Revolutionary government and the period remembered as the Reign of Terror, which made him both influential and deeply controversial.
His power collapsed in July 1794, when opponents in the National Convention turned against him. He was arrested and guillotined in Paris on July 28, 1794. Ever since, he has been remembered in sharply different ways: as a defender of revolutionary principles by some, and as a symbol of political extremism by others.