Origins & Early Life

Marie-Anne Charlotte de Corday d'Armont (27 July 1768 – 17 July 1793), known as Charlotte Corday (French: [kɔʁdɛ]), was a figure of the French Revolution who assassinated revolutionary and Jacobin leader Jean-Paul Marat on 13 July 1793. Corday was an aristocratic sympathiser of the Girondins, a moderate faction of French revolutionaries in opposition to the more extremist Jacobins. She held Marat responsible for the September Massacres of 1792 and, believing that the Revolution was in jeopardy from the more radical course the Jacobins had taken, she decided to assassinate Marat. On 13 July 1793, having travelled to Paris and obtained an audience with Marat, Corday fatally stabbed him with a knife while he was taking a medicinal bath.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

Marat's assassination was memorialised in the painting The Death of Marat by Jacques-Louis David. Corday was immediately arrested, found guilty by the Revolutionary Tribunal and on 17 July, four days after Marat's death, executed by the guillotine on the Place de Grève. The direct consequences of the assassination were the opposite of what she expected: the assassination did not stop the Jacobins or the Reign of Terror, which intensified after the murder...

Enduring Legacy & Impact

The historical impact and works continue to influence the modern world.

Contemporary Figures & Related Historical Timelines

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• Encyclopædia Britannica — Contemporary (Born in 1768) (1768): A long-running, general-knowledge English-language encyclopedia.
• Charles Paul de Kock — Contemporary (Born in 1793) (1793): Popular French novelist known for early career in banking and Parisian life stories.
• Cyrus Byington — Contemporary (Born in 1793) (1793): American missionary linguist renowned for developing the Choctaw lexicon and orthography.
• Jean-Paul Marat — Contemporary (Died in 1793) (1793): Radical journalist and physician whose fiery critiques shaped the French Revolution.
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• Adam Smith — Shared historical date (07-17 · Died) (1790): Scottish philosopher and economist, considered the father of modern capitalism.
• Ananya Birla — Shared historical date (07-17 · Born) (1994): Indian businesswoman and artist, daughter of Kumar Mangalam Birla.
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