Jean Paul Marat's role in the revolution. Jean-Paul Marat and revolutionary terror

Jean-Paul Marat is one of the brightest figures of the French Revolution of 1789-1799. Born in 1743 on May 24 in Switzerland. Died in France on July 13, 1793. Professional occupations: doctor - publicist - political figure.

At the age of 16 in Paris, Marat began studying natural sciences and philosophy. From 1765 he continued his education at the University of Edinburgh, and in 1775 he received the degree of Doctor of Medicine. Upon returning to Paris, he becomes a famous doctor among the court nobility. In addition to medical practice, he is engaged in scientific research into the nature of fire, light, electricity and, for the first time in the history of medicine, uses electric discharge treatment.

With the beginning of the revolution, Marat left medicine and organized a newspaper called "Friend of the People." He signs his articles with the same name, accusing the Girondins of betraying revolutionary ideas and hypocrisy. Hiding from the persecution of his political opponents, Marat is forced to leave for London, but continues to publish the newspaper illegally.

In June 1790, the influence of the radical party increased among the new government, and Marat returned to Paris. The newspaper "Friend of the People" becomes a real militant leaflet of the revolution. Marat publishes appeals exposing the conspiracies of ministers and deputies, and demands public executions for traitors. Despite the increasing persecution from members of the Convention, Marat and his newspaper became extremely popular among the people.

Fiercely promoting revolutionary terror, Marat remained outside the revolutionary parties. In September 1792, he was elected as a deputy to the National Convention of the Republic. Marat is adjacent to the Montagnards. The opposite group of Girondins becomes his irreconcilable enemies. In 1793, they sought an official trial of Marat. He is accused of slander and incitement to violence. The defendant makes a truly triumphant speech in his defense, the crowd applauds him, and the revolutionary tribunal completely acquits him.

Marat's fiery speeches were not in vain. On June 2, 1793, 29 Girondins were expelled from the Convention by a majority vote. Some of them are hiding in the Norman town of Caen. There Charlotte Conde, an ideological admirer of the Gironde, becomes close to them. She develops a plan to kill Marat. Having allegedly appeared with an important denunciation, Conde chooses an opportune moment and inflicts a fatal blow on Marat with a knife.

After his death, Marat's popularity became cult-like. Busts were erected in his honor in France. In 1921, the Russian warship Petropavlovsk, at the request of the crew, began to be called Marat. Streets in many Russian cities are named after Marat.

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✪ Friend of the people Jean-Paul Marat.

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Medical and scientific activities

After losing his parents, Jean-Paul made a living by teaching and practicing medicine, moving from city to city. He lived in England and Holland for more than 10 years and came out here with a number of books and pamphlets, which immediately created numerous enemies for him with the passion of his tone and sharp attacks on authorities. There is evidence that he was planning to take British citizenship in order to marry Anne-Laetitia Akin.

In 1773, he published the book “On Man, or Principles and Laws of the Influence of the Soul on the Body and the Body on the Soul” (French. “De l'homme ou des principles et des lois de l'influence de l"âme sur le corps et du corps sur l"âme") (Amsterdam), which involved him in polemics with Voltaire; it was followed by the revolutionary brochure “The Chains of Slavery” (English: “The chains of slavery” London, 1774; French edition: “Les chaînes de l’esclavage”, Paris, 1792 et seq.).

His natural science works date back to the same time, the most significant drawback of which is the incredible arrogance in his reviews of such scientists as Newton, d'Alembert, Lavoisier. Marat also attacked those researchers who were ready to pay attention to his experiments, such as A. Volta. Among the fans of Marat's scientific talents was his future political opponent J. P. Brissot. Brissot attacked the French Academy, which did not recognize Marat. Jean-Paul's thoughts on the use of electricity in medicine are of interest. In 1775, the University of Edinburgh awarded him the degree of Doctor of Medicine. From 1779 to 1787, Marat was a doctor on the court staff of the Comte d'Artois.

On September 21, 1794, his body was transferred to the Panthéon, but on 8 Ventose III (February 26, 1795) it was removed from it and reburied in the cemetery near the church of Saint-Etienne-du-Mont.

Perpetuating the name and memory of Marat in the USSR

In 1921, the flagship of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet, the former battleship Petropavlovsk, was named after “Marat”. (In 1943, the battleship was returned to its former name).

In the USSR, apologetic biographies of Marat were published (for example, in the ZhZL series and the PR series), and some of his works were also published.

Film incarnations

Notes

ID BNF: Open Data Platform - 2011.
Sycomore /Assemblée nationale
SNAC - 2010.
LIBRIS - 2012.
Chereysky L. A. Pushkin and his circle / USSR Academy of Sciences. Dept. lit. and language Pushkin. commission Rep. ed. V. E. Vatsuro. - 2nd ed., add. and processed - L.: Science. Leningr. department, 1989. - pp. 50-51.
Rodgers, Betsy. Georgian Chronicle: Mrs Barbauld & her Family. London: Methuen & Co. Ltd. (1958), 44.
Françoise Thelamon, Olivier Dumoulin, Jean Pierre Vernant, Olivier Dumoulin, Françoise Thelamon. Autour des morts. - Univ Rouen Havre. - P. 255. - 449 p. - ISBN 9782877756082.
vulica.by/marata.html
https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/streets_Kramatorsk

Literature

Marat Zh.P. Pamphlets. / Ed. will join. article and comment. Ts. Friedland. - M.-L.: Academia, 1934. - 856 p.
Marat Zh.P. Pamphlets. / Under general ed. F. Kon. - M.: Sotsekgiz, 1937. - 135 p.
Marat Zh.P. Selected works: In 3 volumes / [Rep. ed. acad. V.P. Volgin]. Comp.: Acad. V. P. Volgin and A. Z. Manfred. Per. S. B. Kana. Entry article by A. Z. Manfred. Comment. V. M. Dalina. - M.: Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1956.
- T. 1: Before the revolution. - 360 s.: p.
- T. 2: From the beginning of the revolution to the Varenna crisis. - 316 p.: p.
- T. 3: From the flight of the king to the fall of the monarchy. / Per. with comment. V. M. Dalina. - 420 pp.: p.
Levandovsky A. P. The heart of my Marat: The Tale of Jean Paul Marat.. - M.: Politizdat, 1975. - 478 p. - (Fiery revolutionaries).
Valovaya D., Valovaya M., Lapshina G. Boldness. - M.: Young Guard, 1989. - P. 60-78. - 314 p.
Dumas A. Collected works. T. 48. Ingenue. Per. from French L. Tokareva. Comments by T. Gioeva, F. Ryabov. Illustrations by E. Ganeshin. - M.: Art-Business Center, 2000. - 640 p.
Vagman I. Ya., Vukina N. V., Miroshnikova V. V. 100 famous tyrants. - Kharkov: Folio, 2003. - P. 322-326. - 510 s. - (100 famous).

Foreign literature

Excerpts from M.’s works were published by Vermorel (“Œuvres de Marat”, 1869),
a detailed biography was written by Alfred Bougeart (“Marat”, 1865; attached is a complete bibliography of M.’s works).
See also Ch. Brunet, "Marat, dit l'Ami du peuple" (1862);
Louis Combes, "Episodes et curiosités révolutionnaires" (1872);
Aulard, “L"éloquence parlementaire pendant la révolution française. Les orateurs de la Législative et de la Convention" (P., 1885).
Jean-Paul-Marat - Œuvres Politiques 1789-1793 (10 vol.), textes et guide de lecture établis par Jacques De Cock et Charlotte Goëtz, Pôle Nord, Bruxelles, 1989-1995.
Marat corrigé par lui-même, Chantier Marat 1, Pôle Nord, Bruxelles, 1990.
Marat en entier et plus que Marat, Vrais et faux journaux de Marat à la Bibliothèque de Lunel (Chantier Marat 5), Pôle Nord, Bruxelles, Montpellier: Center d’Etude du XVIIIe siècle, 1995.
Marat: Sur le Jugement du chef de l’Exécutif, Chantier Marat 6, Pôle Nord, Bruxelles, 1998.
Marat en famille: la saga des Mara(t) (2 vols. Chantiers Marat 7-8), Pôle Nord, Bruxelles, 2001
Plume de Marat - Plumes sur Marat, pour une bibliographie générale, Chantiers Marat 9-10), Pôle Nord, Bruxelles, 2 vol., 2006.

Source

// Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.

Links

	Marat, Jean-Paul in Wikiquote
	in Wikisource
	Marat, Jean-Paul on Wikimedia Commons

Biography

Jean-Paul Marat (traditional transmission, French pronunciation Mar; French Jean-Paul Marat; May 24, 1743, Boudry, Principality of Neuchâtel (now the canton of Neuchâtel) - July 13, 1793, Paris) - politician of the era of the French Revolution, doctor, radical journalist, one of the leaders of the Jacobins. Known under the nickname “Friend of the People,” in honor of the newspaper he published from September 1789. Together with M. Robespierre, he led the preparations for the uprising of May 31 - June 2, 1793, which took power from the Girondins. One of the most ardent supporters of the Jacobin terror, who laid the foundations of the revolutionary dictatorship. Killed by Charlotte Corday.

Medical and scientific activities

Born in Switzerland. He received a good education in the house of his father Jean-Baptiste Mar (1704-1783), a fairly famous doctor. The younger brother David in 1784 left for permanent residence in St. Petersburg, where he taught at the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum (including under Pushkin).

In 1773, he published the book “On Man, or the Principles and Laws of the Influence of the Soul on the Body and the Body on the Soul” (French: “De l'homme ou des principes et des lois de l'influence de l"âme sur le corps et du corps sur l"âme") (Amsterdam), which involved him in polemics with Voltaire; it was followed by the revolutionary brochure “The Chains of Slavery” (English: “The chains of slavery” London, 1774; French edition: “Les chaînes de l’esclavage”, Paris, 1792 et seq.).

His natural science works date back to the same time, the most significant drawback of which is the incredible arrogance in his reviews of such scientists as Newton, d'Alembert, Lavoisier. Marat He also attacked those researchers who were ready to pay attention to his experiments, such as A. Volta. Among the admirers of Marat's scientific talents was his future political opponent J. P. Brissot. Brissot attacked the French Academy, which did not recognize Marat. Jean-Paul's thoughts on the use of electricity in medicine are of interest. In 1775 the University of Edinburgh awarded him the degree of Doctor of Medicine. From 1779 to 1787, Marat was a doctor on the court staff of the Count d'Artois.

In 1779, the French Academy of Sciences, having analyzed Marat’s memoirs about fire, electricity and other phenomena, found that his experiments were new, accurate and successful, and his method was original. Franklin was present during one of Marat’s experiments, when he tried to prove that rubber conducts electricity, but he revealed the deception (a needle was placed in the rubber) and refused to be present at other “experiments.” Contrary to popular belief, Franklin sent only one letter to Marat - congratulations on the New Year, which did not stop Marat from spreading rumors that Franklin was corresponding with him.

Educational activities

In 1780, he submitted his Plan de législation criminelle (Neuchâtel, 1780) (Plan for Criminal Legislation) to the competition, in which he affiliated himself with the school of criminologists-philanthropists. Some ideas of this treatise (the need to ensure that the shame of punishment does not extend to the innocent families of criminals) were adopted by Emperor Joseph II. Speaking in the spirit of the enlightenment era about the rights of the lower classes, Marat, among other things, holds the idea that “no excess should belong to anyone by right, as long as there are people in daily need.”

Revolution. Newspaper "Friend of the People"

In 1789, he wrote “A Gift to the Fatherland” (“Offrande à la patrie”), “Tableau des vices de la constitution anglaise”, drafted a draft for the establishment of a constitutional monarchy and finally began publishing the newspaper “Friend of the People” (“Ami du peuple”) , published from September 12, 1789 to the very day of Marat’s death, under different titles. The purpose of this publication was to expose the enemies of the people, and Marat attacked the royal family, ministers and members of the national assembly with equal harshness. “Friend of the People” contributed greatly to the spread of extreme revolutionary fanaticism among the people, especially in Paris; it was read in great demand, and its popularity was expressed in the numerous counterfeits of it that circulated at that time.

The fight against the Girondins and terror

The bitter tone of the newspaper caused persecution of Marat. He was forced to hide in the basements, without, however, leaving his work; once he even fled to England - but these persecutions only gave him even more energy and made him more ferocious: he began to talk about the need to renew society by sacrificing hundreds and thousands of heads of traitors. At the end of 1791, he moved to London, where he began compiling a book: “Ecole du citoyen”, but in April 1792 he returned to Paris and took up publishing with renewed energy. The attacks on him by the Girondins, who demanded that he be brought to trial for inciting murders, aroused in him a terrible hatred of them, especially since his printing presses again began to be destroyed and again he had to hide in the basements. The events of August 10 gave him power and influence. On this day, he distributed a poster in the city calling for the death of all anti-revolutionaries. He was elected a member of the supervisory committee of the commune and with his preaching greatly contributed to the September murders; he also signed and probably edited the circular of the commune committee, in which these murders were justified and the provinces were invited to follow the example of Paris (later, however, he denied his participation and called the September events “unfortunate”). Elected to the convention from Paris, he took a place at the head of the Montagnards and became the main target of Girondin speakers. The Girondins finally insisted on putting him on trial for the appeal he published as president of the Jacobins, in which he declared that the convention was concluding a counter-revolution in its depths. Despite Danton's protests, Marat was called to trial on April 14, 1793 for preaching the dissolution of the assembly and calling for murder and robbery; the evidence was taken from various issues of his newspaper. On April 24, 1793, the revolutionary tribunal unanimously acquitted him, and he was brought back to the convention in triumph. Now all his activities were directed towards the destruction of the Girondins; he was one of the main culprits of their proscription.

Murder and posthumous fate

Suffering from a severe skin disease, Marat did not leave the house and constantly took baths to alleviate his suffering; During one of them, on July 13, 1793, his visitor, noblewoman Charlotte Corday, offered him a new list of “enemies of the people.” While the delighted Marat was writing down their names, Charlotte stabbed him with a dagger. Marat died, having only managed to shout: “A moi, ma chère amie!” (Come to me, my friend!). On July 16, his body was buried with great ceremony in the garden of the Cordeliers Club; the deceased's heart was removed and placed in the club's meeting room. Montmartre and the city of Le Havre were briefly renamed in honor of Marat.

On September 21, 1794, his body was transferred to the Pantheon, but on 8 Ventose III (February 26, 1795) it was removed from it and reburied in the cemetery near the church of Saint-Etienne-du-Mont.

Perpetuating the name and memory of Marat in the USSR

After the October Revolution of 1917 in Russia, the name of Marat as one of the founders of the revolutionary dictatorship and revolutionary terror was immortalized in the names of many objects in the USSR. In Moscow there were Bolshoi and Maly Maratovskie lanes (formerly Kurbatov, now Ordynskie), named after the confectionery factory named after Marat.

In St. Petersburg there is Marata Street. Marata Street is also located in Nizhny Novgorod, Novorossiysk, Novosibirsk, Penza, Sevastopol, Kursk, Kaliningrad, Yekaterinburg, Omsk, Irkutsk, Krasnoyarsk, Izhevsk, Perm, Ulyanovsk, Minsk, Murmansk, Taishet, Tula, Kaluga, Michurinsk, Kalinkovichi, etc.

In 1921, the flagship of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet, the former battleship Petropavlovsk, was named after “Marat”. (In 1943, the battleship was returned to its former name).

In Soviet times (especially before the war), the male name Marat, which was considered international, became widespread. [source not specified 460 days]

In the USSR, apologetic biographies of Marat were published (for example, in the ZhZL series and the PR series), and some of his works were also published.

Film incarnations

"French revolution"
La révolution française (France - Italy - Canada - Great Britain - Germany, 1989), (two parts). Directed by Robert Enrico, Richard T. Heffron. In the role of Marat - Vittorio Mezzogiorno.
"Charlotte Corday"
Charlotte Corday (France, 2007). Directed by Henri Elman. Bernard Blancan plays the role of Marat.

The name of one of the radicals Leaders of the French Revolution Jean-Paul Marat well known in Russia. During Soviet times, the Jacobin Marat was considered the forerunner of the communist movement. Streets in many cities across the country were named after him. Hero of Songs Alexandra Rosenbaum“I was once happy on Marat Street.”

Revolutionary as court physician

We meet the name Marat at a very young age: from poetry Sergei Mikhalkov It is known about Uncle Styopa that the giant hero served on the battleship Marat during the war. By the way, such a warship was actually part of the USSR Navy.

Moreover, the surname “Marat” itself became a popular international name in the Soviet Union.

A native of Switzerland, Jean-Paul Marat was born on May 24, 1743 in the family of a famous doctor. Having received a good education, Marat also became a doctor. The young doctor could not sit in one place - he traveled to various cities, earning a living by practicing medicine.

In addition to his medical abilities, Jean-Paul Marat was a born speaker and publicist who questioned all social foundations of the time. Radical and harsh judgments, on the one hand, brought him popularity, and on the other, allowed Marat to make many enemies, including among influential people.

Marat did not recognize authorities - he entered into heated polemics with Voltaire, was critical of scientific works Newton And Lavoisier. Opponents, recognizing Marat's undoubted talent, noted his extreme conceit.

From 1779 to 1787, the future tribune of the revolution, Jean-Paul Marat, was the court physician Count d'Artois- in 1824, this representative of the royal house of Bourbon would ascend the throne under the name Charles X. However, his reign will end with a revolution - in 1830 he will be overthrown from the throne.

However, these events will occur much later than the history we are talking about today.

Jean-Paul Marat's career underwent dramatic changes with the outbreak of the French Revolution. The physician, who successfully combined work for a member of the royal family with writing radical works on the reconstruction of society, in 1789 plunged headlong into revolutionary events.

Whistleblower of "enemies of the people"

Marat created his own project for establishing a constitutional monarchy and began publishing the newspaper “Friend of the People,” which was destined to become the main ideological mouthpiece of the revolution.

From the pages of his publication, the brilliant publicist exposed the crimes of the regime, denounced the royal family, corrupt ministers, and unscrupulous deputies. Marat's influence on the masses grew day by day - no one but him could so successfully incite revolutionary fanaticism among the masses.

Of course, Marat had more than enough opponents. Monarchists and moderate revolutionaries hated him, believing that the “Friend of the People” was calling the masses to terror.

Actually, that’s how it was. In 1791, Marat had to hide from persecution in London, but upon his return he continued his activities.

Jean-Paul Marat wrote that the fight against counter-revolution must be brutal, and if the renewal of society requires the beheading of hundreds and thousands of “enemies of the people,” these heads must be cut off immediately.

The term “enemy of the people” itself was not born in the Soviet Union, but in revolutionary France - Marat began publishing lists of “enemies of the people” in his newspaper, and the fate of those who were included in them was extremely sad.

Marat was one of the most ardent supporters of the execution of the overthrown King Louis XVI of France and greeted her.

In 1793, during a period of fierce struggle between the radical Jacobins, whose leaders were Robespierre and Marat, and the more moderate Girondins, the latter managed to get the publisher of the Friend of the People tried, accusing him of inciting murders. However, the Revolutionary Tribunal on April 24, 1793 completely acquitted Marat.

Jean-Paul Marat was at the height of his fame, but less than three months remained before his death.

A rebel from an ancient family

Charlotte Corday, whose full name is Marie Anne Charlotte Corday d'Armont, was born on July 27, 1768 in Normandy. She came from an ancient noble family, and her great-grandfather was Pierre Corneille- founder of the genre of French tragedy.

The girl received her primary education at home, and then, in the traditions of that time, was placed in a boarding school at the Benedictine Abbey of the Holy Trinity in Caen. By that time, the wind of change was blowing with might and main in France - in the abbey, young pupils were allowed to read not only religious literature, but also works Montesquieu And Rousseau.

In 1790, in the spirit of revolutionary changes, the monastery was closed, and Charlotte Corday returned home.

Contemporaries recalled that 22-year-old Charlotte was a “person of a new era” - she did not think about marriage, and preferred newspapers and revolutionary literature to romance novels. Once, at a dinner with relatives, a young noblewoman allowed herself unprecedented insolence, refusing to drink for the king. Charlotte stated that Louis XVI is a weak monarch, and weak monarchs bring only disaster to their people.

Charlotte Corday was a republican, but she categorically opposed terror and was shocked by the execution of the king. “The people who promised us freedom killed her, they are just executioners,” Charlotte wrote to her friend.

The 24-year-old girl believed that she had to do something to influence the historical process. Caen, where she lived, had by that time become the center of the Girondin opposition against the Jacobins.

Charlotte Corday decided that terror could be stopped if the ideologist of terror, Jean-Paul Marat, was destroyed.

Kitchen knife as a tool of history

To implement her plan, she met with the Girondins who came to Caen and received from them a letter of recommendation to their like-minded people - the deputies of the Convention in Paris. Charlotte did not reveal her real goal - she said that she supposedly wanted to take care of her friend from the boarding school, who was left without a livelihood.

Arriving in Paris on July 11, 1793, Charlotte Corday began to seek a meeting with Marat. The girl realized that she would not be able to survive the assassination attempt on her own, so she wrote several farewell letters, as well as an “Appeal to the French, friends of laws and peace,” in which she explained the motives for her action. “Oh, France! Your peace depends on obeying the laws; By killing Marat, I am not breaking any laws; condemned by the universe, he stands outside the law... I want my last breath to benefit my fellow citizens, so that my head, laid in Paris, would serve as a banner for the unification of all friends of the law! — wrote Charlotte Corday.

The girl tried to meet with Marat, allegedly in order to give him a new list of “enemies of the people” who had settled in Cana.

By that time, Jean-Paul Marat almost did not appear at the Convention - he suffered from a skin disease, and his suffering was alleviated only by the bath in which he received visitors at home.

After several appeals, on July 13, 1793, Charlotte Corday obtained an audience with Marat. She took with her a kitchen knife, bought in a Parisian shop.

When they met, Charlotte told him about the traitors gathered in Caen, and Marat noted that they would soon go to the guillotine. At that moment, the girl stabbed Marat, who was in the bathroom, with a knife, killing him on the spot.

Corday was captured immediately. By some miracle, she was saved from the wrath of the crowd, who wanted to deal with her right at the corpse of the defeated idol.

Posthumous slap

After interrogation, she was sent to prison. The investigation and trial were swift, and the verdict was obvious. Charlotte Corday did not ask for leniency, but insisted that she committed the murder alone. This did not help - arrests of her alleged accomplices had already begun in Paris, who were also facing a death sentence.

In those days there was no photography, but the artist Goyer on the day of the trial and a few hours before the execution, he made a sketch of a portrait of the murderer Marat.

The jury on the morning of July 17 unanimously sentenced Charlotte Corday to death. The girl was put on a red dress - according to tradition, murderers and poisoners were executed in it.

According to the executioner, Charlotte Corday behaved courageously. She spent the entire journey to the place of execution on Republic Square standing. When the guillotine appeared in the distance, the executioner wanted to block its view from the condemned woman, but Charlotte herself asked him to step away - she said that she had never seen this instrument of death, and she was very curious.

Charlotte Corday refused to confess. At half past seven in the evening she ascended the scaffold and was executed in front of a large crowd of people. The carpenter who was helping to install the platform picked up the severed head of the girl and expressed his contempt for her by slapping her in the face. This act pleased the radical supporters of Marat, but was condemned by the official authorities.

The identity of Charlotte Corday caused a lot of controversy even after the execution. For example, the corpse was examined by doctors who confirmed that the 24-year-old girl was a virgin.

Her body was buried in the Madeleine Cemetery in Paris. Subsequently, after the Napoleonic era, the cemetery was demolished.

Marat and his best student

Jean-Paul Marat was buried the day before the execution of Charlotte Corday, on July 16, 1793, in the garden of the Cordeliers Club. In honor of Marat, Montmartre and the city of Le Havre were renamed for some time. The ambiguous attitude towards his personality led to the fact that both in France and much later in the Soviet Union, objects named in his honor were then again given historical names. Marat's body in 1794, after the overthrow of the Jacobin dictatorship, was transferred to the Pantheon, but then, during the next revision of the assessment of the politician's personality, it was removed from it and reburied in the Saint-Etienne-du-Mont cemetery.

However, Charlotte Corday's share is even less enviable. Firstly, despite her assurances that she acted alone, the death of Marat became the reason for the intensification of mass repressions against “enemies of the people.” Charlotte Corday's family had to go into exile, and her uncle and brother, who participated in the armed uprising of the royalists, were shot.

Secondly, the republican Charlotte Corday was declared a royalist by Jacobin propaganda and became the idol of the monarchists. Even worse, the girl, who made self-sacrifice, unwittingly, gave the name to a fashion accessory - “Charlotte” was the name given to a hat consisting of a bavolette - a cap with a frill at the back of the head - and a mantonniere - a ribbon holding the hat. This headdress became extremely popular among supporters of the monarchy, and a century later - among opponents of the Paris Commune of 1871.

One of the theorists of socialism Louis Blanc wrote later that Charlotte Corday actually turned out to be the most ardent follower of the principles of Jean-Paul Marat, bringing to perfection his logical principle, according to which the lives of a few can be sacrificed for the well-being of an entire nation.

The full name of this woman is Marie Anne Charlotte Corday d'Armont (1768-1793), but she went down in history as Charlotte Corday. This young lady became famous for the fact that on July 13, 1793 she committed the murder of Marat, an ardent enemy of the Girondins. Jean-Paul Marat was a man of great organizational abilities and enormous energy. He advocated terror, the destruction of the few for the sake of the happiness of the many.

This position of his caused sharp rejection by Charlotte Corday, who at first adhered to royalist views, and then became a supporter of revolutionary ideas, but only in the form preached by the Girondins. The girl categorically denied any terror, as it disgusted her. However, here we see a paradox. By killing Marat, she herself became the bearer of terror and nullified all her beliefs about the denial of violence.

Charlotte Corday

This woman came from a noble family. He had ancient roots, but his father was the third son in the family. In accordance with the order of inheritance of property (majority), the elder brother received everything. And the third son was forced to serve in the army, and after retirement to engage in agriculture. He had his own farm, where Charlotte was born.

The girl's primary education was given to her father's brother, who was a Catholic parish priest (cure). At the age of 14, the girl, together with her younger sister Eleanor, was assigned to the Abbey of the Holy Trinity in the city of Cana. The girls were taken there as boarders, that is, women living in the boarding house on government support.

This Benedictine monastery had a rich library, and access to it was open to everyone, and the books on the shelves had not only spiritual content. Charlotte became acquainted with the works of such prominent French writers and philosophers as Charles de Montesquieu, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Guillaume Tom Raynal.

These works made a great impression on the young and inexperienced girl. Gradually, she began to develop certain political views. She was for the royal dynasty with all her heart, but considered Louis XVI to be a weak and weak-willed man. She dreamed of a strong and strong-willed monarch, capable of making France a rich and powerful country.

The Great French Revolution began in 1789, and at the end of 1790 the monastery was closed. The sisters had to first return to their father, and in June 1791, Charlotte Corday again left for the city of Caen and settled in the house of her second cousin de Betteville. It should be noted that the young girl was not at all interested in men. She spent all her time reading newspapers and various political brochures. She, like a sponge, absorbed all the information, but at the same time remained a person selflessly devoted to the monarchy.

The execution of King Louis XVI, which occurred on December 11, 1792, shook our heroine to the core. She sincerely mourned the death of the monarch, and she saw the future as a nightmare filled with horrors. The young woman cursed the people who did this and mentally called them executioners.

Meanwhile, the revolution was moving forward. On June 2, 1793, Girondist deputies were expelled from the Convention. Power was concentrated in the hands of Robespierre, a member of the Jacobin Club, as well as Marat and Danton, who were the leaders of the Montagnards. And the Girondins, saving their lives, were forced to flee. Many of them ended up in Caen in June 1793. In this city they created a center of opposition.

It is quite understandable that Charlotte took great interest in all these events. She also met some Girondins, among whom Jean Charles Marie Barbara made the greatest impression on her. It should be noted that this man, during the trial of Louis XVI, voted for the death of the monarch, but with an appeal to the people. After the execution of the monarch, he entered into a confrontation with Robespierre and Marat, accusing them of striving for dictatorship. On May 31, 1793 he was declared an enemy of the Republic. He fled to Caen, where he met Charlotte Corday.

Jean-Paul Marat

It is unknown what role Barbara played in Corday's decision to kill one of the leaders of the French Revolution. But he managed to captivate the young woman with the ideas of the Girondins. She became a Republican because she began to trust these people, and then she developed a desire to go to Paris.

For what? Well, certainly not to admire the beauties of the French capital. At the same time, the Girondins had already left the city, and the girl herself did not know anyone in it. From this we can conclude that the original purpose of her trip was not to help the Girondins, but to kill Marat or Robespierre.

But it was necessary to arrive in the capital under a plausible pretext. This one was found. Charlotte Corday told everyone that she was going to seek a pension for her good friend from Holy Trinity Abbey. She left France and was in great poverty. Our heroine asked Barbara to write her a letter of recommendation. And he dropped a few words to Convention deputy Claude Romain Loz-Duperret. He was close to the Girondins for some time, but was a member of the Jacobin Club, and therefore, after June 2, he retained his parliamentary powers.

Murder of Marat

Before leaving for Paris, Corday destroyed all her papers and wrote a letter to her father. In it, she said that she was leaving the country for England and intended to settle in London. She left the next morning and arrived in Paris on 11 July. Having settled in the hotel, Charlotte immediately went to Claude Romain. He listened to the visitor and said that he could not help, since he was registered as a supporter of the Girondins and was deprived of all powers.

But Corday was not only concerned about her friend’s pension. She had not yet decided who to kill for the good of France, and therefore tried to find out everything about Robespierre and Marat. The first was always among people, and it was extremely difficult to carry out an act of retaliation against him. But Jean-Paul Marat constantly sat at home, suffering from eczema. Suffering from severe itching, he spent most of his time in a bath with warm water. And he even received visitors while sitting in the bath.

Therefore, in the evening, returning to the hotel, the young woman made a choice in favor of the second bloody revolutionary and wrote an appeal to the people of France. In it, she, in particular, said that by killing Marat, she would not break the law, since this man himself had put himself outside the law. She will lay down her head for her beloved homeland, so that her death will become a banner under which the French people will unite.

Early in the morning of July 13, Charlotte rode to Marat’s house in a city carriage, but did not get further than the reception room. The flow of visitors was led by Simone Evrard, and she did not allow the visitor from Caen to see one of the main leaders of the Great French Revolution. But this did not discourage our heroine. Towards evening, she reappeared in the reception room and asked to give Marat a note. It talked about the conspiracy in Cana and the list of conspirators.

Murder of Marat

Jean-Paul, having read the note, became interested in the information and ordered Charlotte Corday to be invited to him. He took it while sitting in the bath. The visitor handed him a pre-prepared list of conspirators. Marat began to read it, then raised his eyes, looked at the woman and said that they would all soon find themselves on the guillotine. After that, he again went deep into reading, and the visitor took out a dagger hidden in the folds of his clothes and stabbed Marat in the chest with it 2 times.

The last thing Jean-Paul managed to do was call out loudly to Simone Evrard. After that, he gave up the ghost, and Charlotte managed to run out into the hallway, but was detained there.

Subsequent events

Justice over Marat's killer was carried out quickly. On the morning of July 17, 1793, the Revolutionary Tribunal sentenced Corday to the guillotine. And on the same day in the evening the sentence was carried out. Going to execution, the woman behaved proudly and with dignity. She was transported from the prison to Revolution Square in a cart, and Charlotte stood on her feet the entire time, refusing to sit down. She peered into the eyes of the Parisians, apparently trying to make sure that it was not in vain that she was going to her death.

Having risen to the platform, she asked the executioner to step aside to get a better look at the guillotine. Her head was cut off at 19:30. After this, the body was subjected to a medical examination and they were convinced that the executed woman was a virgin. The remains were buried in the Madeleine cemetery in one of the dug ditches. When the Bourbons returned to France, the cemetery was liquidated. And now it is impossible to find the remains of this woman.

Subsequently, Charlotte Corday received the status of an ardent opponent of the Great French Revolution. During the Bourbon restoration, she began to be revered as a national heroine. Alexander Pushkin compared this woman to the goddess of vengeance. The French made the film “Charlotte Corday” in the 21st century. But the main role in it was played not by the French, but by the Belgian actress Emilie Dequienne. The opponent of terror immortalized her name, but not with calls for mercy and forgiveness, but again through terror, which once again proved the amazing paradox of human actions.