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Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Charlotte Corday


Charlotte Corday


Occupation: assassin
Known for: killing Jean Paul Marat in his bath, during the French Revolution period
Also known as: Marie Anne Charlotte Corday D'Armont, Marie-Anne Charlotte de Corday d'Armont

Background, Family:

  • Father: Jacques-Francois de Corday d'Armont, a noble with a family connection to playwright Pierre Corneille
  • Mother: Charlotte-Marie Gautier des Authieux (died April 8, 1782)
  • Siblings: Charlotte Corday was fourth child

Education:

  • Abbaye aux Dames (1782- 1791) - a convent in Caen

More About Charlotte Corday:

Fourth child of a noble family, Charlotte Corday was living in Caen, Normandy, with her aunt or cousin,
after the convent school she had been attending closed. She and her sister, Eleonore, had been sent to the
convent school right after their mother died.
Charlotte Corday had, like her father, supported the monarchy, but as the Revolution unfolded, cast her lot
with the Girondists. The moderate Girondists and the radical Jacobins were opposing Republican parties. The
Jacobins banned the Girondists from Paris and began executions of members of that party; many Girondists
fled to Caen in May, 1793.
Charlotte Corday decided to kill the Jacobin publisher, Jean Paul Marat, who had been calling for the
execution of Girondists. She left Caen for Paris on July 9, 1793, and while staying in Paris wrote an
Address to the French Who Are Friends of Law and Peace to explain her planned actions.
On July 13, Charlotte Corday bought a wooden handled table knife and then went to Marat's home,
claiming to have information for him. At first she was refused a meeting, but then she was admitted. Marat
was in his bathtub, where he often sought relief from a skin condition.
Corday was immediately arrested, and then quickly tried and convicted by the Revolutionary Tribunal.
Charlotte Corday was guillotined on July 17, 1763, wearing her baptismal certificate pinned to her dress
so that her name would be known.
Corday's action and execution had little if any effect on the continued executions of Girondists.
Places: Paris, France; Caen, Normandy, France
Religion: Roman Catholic

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