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Charlotte Corday

Charlotte Corday (1768-1793) played a prominent role in the French Revolution (1789-1799) when she assassinated radical activist Jean-Paul Marat in his bathtub on 13 July 1793. Despite her aristocratic background, Corday was an avowed republican who believed Marat and his Jacobin allies were corrupting the soul of the Revolution. Following her execution on 17 July, she became a revolutionary martyr.

Corday’s assassination of Marat was important, not only as a protest against the bloodshed of the Reign of Terror but also as an instance of women affecting the course of the Revolution. Through her acts, Corday was able to challenge the common perception of women as inherently apolitical. In the centuries since her execution, Corday has been romanticized in poems, art, and literature; in 1847, writer Alphonse de Lamartine assigned her the nickname ‘Angel of Assassination’.

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