Marat, Jean-Paul

(1743-1793)

   physician, publicist, political figure

   A leading figure of the revolution of 1789, Jean-Paul Marat was born in Boudry, Neuchâtel, switzerland. His mother, a calvinist, was from Geneva, and his father was of sardinian origin. in

France, Marat studied science and medicine, which he later practiced. He wrote a number of philosophic essays, in particular, Les Chaînes de l'esclavage (1774), in which he attacked all forms of tyranny, denounced the corruption of the royal court, and aligned himself with freemasonry. settling in Paris (1776), he served for a time as physician to the guards of the count of Artois (see charles x). His scientific works on fire, light, and electricity gained the attention of Benjamin Franklin, the American scientist and statesman, and J. W. von Goethe, the German writer. In 1780, he wrote Plan de législation criminelle, in which he proposed reforms put forth earlier by cesare Bec-caria. solitary and bitter, Marat, in september 1789, founded the radical newspaper L'Ami du peuple, which became known for its violent tone. in it, he attacked any political moderates. Elected to the Convention, he joined the extreme montagnards and called for the end of the monarchy. He contributed also to the violence that would characterize the Revolution after 1792, and achieved the purging of the moderate Girondins from the government, leading to formation of the jacobin regime. At the peak of his power, Marat, in July 1793, was assassinated by charlotte corday. Thereafter, he became enshrined as one of the popular heroes of the Revolution.