Historical Figures Codexery

Jean-Paul Marat

Radical journalist and martyr of the French Revolution

He became one of the most prolific and controversial journalists of the Revolution through his newspaper L'Ami du peuple.[1] Born on 24 May 1743 and dying on 13 July 1793, Jean-Paul Marat was a French figure who worked as a scientist, physician, political theorist, journalist, and politician both prior to and during the French Revolution.[2] On Saturday, 13 July 1793, while Marat was soaking in a medicinal bath for a debilitating skin condition, Charlotte Corday, a Girondin sympathizer, killed him.[3]

Quick Facts

Office
Member of the National Convention
Took office
9 September 1792
Left office
13 July 1793
Constituency
Paris
Born
24 May 1743
Birthplace
Boudry, Principality of Neuchâtel
Place of death
Paris, France
Cause of death
Assassination (stab wound)

Facts from the source article.

Life and work

He moved to London in 1765 and worked informally as a doctor, later obtaining an MD from the University of St Andrews in 1775.[4][5] In 1774 he published The Chains of Slavery in London, which attacked political corruption and argued that sovereignty belonged to the people.[6] He began his newspaper L'Ami du peuple on 12 September 1789, often attacking powerful groups in Paris as conspirators against the Revolution.[7] His journalism became notorious for violent calls against enemies of the Revolution, which he justified as preventing greater bloodshed.[8]

On 13 July 1793, Charlotte Corday stabbed Marat in his bath, believing he was responsible for France's violence and disorder.[3]

What the cited sources add

According to Bax, Marat did not personally cause the death of any individual during the September massacres, and there is no proof he instigated lawless vengeance.[9] Bax describes that on the day of his assassination, Marat was confined to his room with lung trouble, nervous excitement, and a chronic skin disease.[10] The ARTFL Project notes that Marat's newspapers were a notable example of French Revolutionary populism and that printing was suspended when he went into hiding.[11] A Paris Musées record describes Marat's tomb in the Cordeliers garden, with an epitaph reading "Here lies Marat, friend of the people, assassinated by the enemies of the people".[12]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Jean-Paul Marat" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Les journaux de Marat", ARTFL Project (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Jean-Paul Marat" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: ; ; Isaac Asimov's Biographical Encyclopedia of Science and Technology – Second Revised Edition, 1982, p. 334. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Jean-Paul Marat" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Instruction préparatoire : interrogatoire de l'accusée", Procès criminel de Marie-Anne Charlotte Corday d'Armont (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Jean-Paul Marat" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Dictionnaire des parlementaires français", 1891, p. 252 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Jean-Paul Marat" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Conner (1999), p. 33. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Jean-Paul Marat" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Rachel Hammersley, “Jean-Paul Marat's The Chains of Slavery in Britain and France, 1774–1833”, The Historical Journal 48, no. 3 (2005).; Gottschalk, pp. 19–22. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Jean-Paul Marat" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: De Cock, Jacques, "Un journal dans la Révolution: "L'Ami du Peuple"", fantasques éditions, 2013; Albert, "Ami du Peuple l'", universalis.fr, 19 January 1999; Bianchi, Serge, "Marat. "L'Ami du peuple"", Humensis, 2017; Walter, Gérard, "Marat", Albin Michel, 2012, p. 56–59; De Cock, Jacques, "Un journal dans la Révolution: "L'Ami du Peuple"", fantasques éditions, 2013; Belfort Bax, p. 70; Massin, "Marat", Éditions Alinéa, 1988 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Jean-Paul Marat" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Davidson, Ian (2016). The French Revolution: From Enlightenment to Tyranny, pp. 161–162. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Belfort Bax, Ch. 6. facts only, no text reused. marxists.org
  10. Ernest Belfort Bax (1900) Jean-Paul Marat The People’s Friend Chapter IX Marat’s Assassination. facts only, no text reused. marxists.org
  11. "Les journaux de Marat", ARTFL Project. facts only, no text reused. artfl-project.uchicago.edu
  12. "Tombeau de Jean-Paul Marat dans le jardin des Cordeliers, juillet 1793", Paris Musées Collections. facts only, no text reused. parismuseescollections.paris.fr

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Jean-Paul Marat (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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