French attorney, politician and revolutionary. A fanatical idealist and radical leader of the Jacobins, he was called “the incorruptible.” Robespierre, a patriot with a sense of duty and sacrifice, became the very symbol of the French Revolution.
Robespierre’s mother died when he was young. His father, a lawyer, left Maximilien, his brother Augustin and his sisters to be raised by their maternal grandparents. Small in stature, he was pale and sincere. In 1765, he attended the college of the Oratorians at Arras. He was awarded a scholarship to the famous college of Louis-le-Grand in Paris, in 1769, where he studied philosophy and law. In 1781, he received his law degree, began working as a lawyer and made a comfortable home with his sister Charlotte. Soon distinguished in his field, he was appointed judge at the Salle Episcopale. In 1783, he was admitted to the Arras Academy for the advancement of the arts and sciences, later becoming its chancellor and then its president. He socialized with the young people in the area as well as with the local notables, and spent his time entering academic competitions. His “Mémoire sur les peines infamantes” (“Report on Degrading Punishments”) won first prize at the Academy of Metz, and by 1788, he was noted for his altruism.
In March 1789, at the age of 30, he embarked upon a political career, after the citizens of Arras chose him to be one of their representatives. Always careful in his dress and personal grooming and a man of simple manners, he quickly gained attention, but kept his frugal lifestyle. His first speech, of the more than 500 total he gave throughout his lifetime, was given before the National Assembly on approximately 5/18/1789, and despite a voice which had weak carrying power, his message spread, his popularity grew, and as well, he engendered great opposition. In April 1790, he presided over the Jacobins, a political club that promoted the ideas of the French Revolution. Elected secretary of the National Assembly in June 1790, he threw himself full force into his work, welcoming the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, which formed the preamble of the French constitution of 9/03/1791. He was a proponent of universal suffrage, was opposed to the royal veto and the abuses of ministerial power and he fought against religious and racial discrimination. Increasingly, he was seen as a dangerous individual, as his passionate fight for liberty gained him more enemies, and during 1791, after a threat upon his life, he went to live with the family of a cabinetmaker. Through everything, however, he kept the Jacobin Club alive. When the National Assembly dissolved itself, the people of Paris threw a triumphal procession for Robespierre.
He gave up his post as public prosecutor of Paris, but continued his political activism, primarily with the Jacobins, and he attacked Lafayette on the suspicion that he was attempting to form a military dictatorship. The struggle between the Girondins, the revolutionary group that favored political but not social democracy, and the Montagnards, the deputies of the extreme left, continued, and on 5/26/1793, Robespierre, still widely admired for his earnestness, called upon the people of France to “rise in insurrection.” After the fall of the Girondins, the revolution mobilized its resources, and he noted in his diary that what was needed now was “one single will,” a dictatorial power that characterized the revolutionary government. On 7/27/1793, he took his place on the Committee of Public Safety, working to prevent dissent among the revolutionaries. He disapproved of the movement against Christianity, and he worked to rally the revolutionaries around a civic religion and the cult of the Supreme Being.
On 6/4/1794, the National Convention elected him their president, but with his health deteriorating, he became distant and irritable; at the same time, he began to lose the support of the people and he soon withdrew from the National Convention. In July 1794, the Legislative Assembly indicted him, along with his brother and three of his associates; Robespierre was taken to the Luxembourg prison, but the warden there refused to incarcerate him. He refused to lead his supporters in the insurrection, and his loyal contingents dispersed.
On 5/22/1794, there was an unsuccessful attempt on his life, and on 7/27/1794, his lower jaw was broken when a gendarme at the Convention shot him. Declared an outlaw by the National Convention, he was executed on 7/28/1794, where he died by guillotine in Paris. After his death, many of his papers were destroyed in an attempt to destroy his memory.(Annot. mik:died at 19:00)
Link to Wikipedia biography