23 Messidor
An CCXXXIV
Camille Desmoulins
Who was Camille Desmoulins? The good spirit of the Revolution, coldly sent to the guillotine by his former schoolfriend Robespierre, who had over time become a monster? Or a ruthless egoist whose appeals helped fuel the early excesses of the Revolution? Desmoulins did not merely call himself the first apostle of liberty. He was also the prosecutor of the lantern. By this he justified the practice of hanging opponents of the Revolution from the nearest lantern after a summary trial. The fact is that at the end of his life he called for an end to the Terror. In a show trial, he was sentenced to death together with Danton. His beloved wife Lucile was guillotined a few days later.
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1760 - 1794
- March 2, 1760 · Born in Guise.
- 1771 · Camille becomes a student at the Collège Louis-le-Grand, where he befriends his classmate Maximilien Robespierre.
- March 7, 1785 · Admitted to the Paris bar.
- 1790 · Marriage to Lucile Duplessis.
- July 12, 1789 · In the gardens of the Palais-Royal, he calls on the people to rise up.
- November 1789 · Desmoulins launches the newspaper Les Révolutions de France et de Brabant.
- September 1792 · Deputy for the département of Paris in the National Convention.
- January 1794 · Desmoulins publishes the first issue of the Vieux Cordelier, in which he criticizes the Terror.
- March 30, 1794 · During a night session, the Committees of Public Safety and General Security decide on the arrest of the leading Indulgents (moderates). Alongside Danton, Desmoulins is arrested.
- April 2, 1794 · The trial before the Revolutionary Tribunal begins.
- April 5, 1794 · Death sentence and execution on the Place de la Révolution in Paris.
Quotes
Let that damned police take a good look at me, so they can arrest me when the time comes. But they shall not take me alive; I shall know how to die with dignity!
Camille Desmoulins on 12 July 1789 at the Palais-Royal. He was holding a pistol in his hand.
I think very differently from those who tell you that the Terror must remain on the agenda. On the contrary, I am convinced that liberty would be strengthened and Europe defeated if you had a 'committee of clemency'.
Desmoulins in the fourth issue of the Vieux Cordelier.
So this is the reward for the first apostle of liberty! The monsters who demand my blood will not outlive me for long.
Desmoulins shortly before his execution.
Le Moniteur
Desmoulins calls on the people to rise up, 12 July 1789
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