French politician in the
French Revolution. As leader of the
Jacobins in the National Convention (1792), he supported the execution of Louis XVI and the overthrow of the right-wing republican Girondins, and in July 1793 was elected to the Committee of Public Safety. A year later he was guillotined; many believe that he was a scapegoat for the Reign of
Terror since he ordered only 72 executions personally.
Robespierre, a lawyer, was elected to the National Assembly from 1789 to 1791. His defence of democratic principles made him popular in Paris, while his disinterestedness won him the nickname of the sea-green Incorruptible. His zeal for social reform and his attacks on the excesses of the extremists made him enemies on both right and left; a conspiracy was formed against him, and in July 1794 he was overthrown and executed by those who actually perpetrated the Reign of Terror.
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