Maximilien Robespierre
French lawyer and revolutionary politician (1758–1794) who became the dominant figure of the Committee of Public Safety during the French Revolution. As architect of the Reign of Terror, he sent thousands to the guillotine in the name of republican virtue before being arrested and executed himself in the Thermidorian Reaction.
Maximilien Robespierre serves in the office of Member of the Committee of Public Safety, a role that shapes how power is exercised, how institutions operate, and how political decisions are carried through in practice.
At a Glance
Maximilien Robespierre was a politician from France who served as Member of the Committee of Public Safety.
During Maximilien Robespierre's time in public life, the office of Member of the Committee of Public Safety was one of the main sites where state power was exercised in France. The historical importance of that role lies in the decisions, coalitions, crises, and institutional outcomes tied to it rather than in prestige alone.
Position in System
Maximilien Robespierre historically held the office of Member of the Committee of Public Safety in France. The significance of that role lies in the decisions, institutions, and long-term consequences attached to their period in power rather than any implication of present-day authority.
Details
- birth year
- 1758
- office
- Member of the Committee of Public Safety
- historical status
- deceased_historical
Overview
Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre (1758–1794) was the most influential figure of the French Revolution's most radical phase. A lawyer from Arras who had been inspired by Rousseau's theories of the general will and civic virtue, he rose through the Estates-General and the National Assembly to lead the Jacobin Club and, from 1793, the Committee of Public Safety — the revolutionary government's executive committee during the crisis year of the Terror.
