Maximilien Robespierre

French lawyer and politician
1758-1794

Scene of Louis XVI's execution
French Revolution Posters

The dominant figure of the French Revolution, Maximilien Robespierre, was a fanatical republican who thought the end justified the means.

A supreme political mover, Robespierre quickly became one of the leaders of the infant republic and, with his Committee of Public Safety, pushed the Terror on to France.

Ruthless, austere and idealistic, Robespierre let nothing stand in his way and his extreme stance led to his overthrow in 1794.

Shot in the jaw during his capture, the man who sent tens of thousands to the guillotine met the same fate.

Only, he was executed face upwards.