Jean-Paul Marat

Birth: Boudry,Prussia May 24th, 1743
Death: July 13th, 1793
Vocation: Radical Journalist and Revolutionary, Doctor, Scientist
Accomplishments: Publishing inflammatory rhetoric leading to many deaths
Affiliation: French Jacobin Revolutionaries

Jean-Paul Marat was born in Boudry, Prussia on May 24th,1743 to Louise Cabrol and Jean Mara. Starting in about 1760, Marat spent time seeking his fortune in Newcastle, London, and Paris working primarily as a doctor. He spent time with artist, architects, and intellectuals. He began publishing essays of his own. He began working in Paris in Paris as a doctor and publishing scientific writing. The French Academy of Science did not favor much of his work


In the late 1880s and early 1890s, Marat began publishing newspapers. The papers that he published were volatile and incendiary. They attacked the powerful, moderates, and anyone that was a possible threat to the revolution. The attacks were so bad that Marat often feared for his own safety and would go into hiding. At one point he hid for a long period of time in the Paris sewers, making a skin condition that he had much worse.

As the power struggle in France increased, more people were accused of crimes against the state and put to death. Marat was often one of the accusers through his newspapers. Certain members of the revolutionary government were happy to believe the accusations of Marat and others. Marat did briefly serve as a member of the National Convention starting in 1792. During this same period France and Austria went to war for a number of reasons. Marat was opposed to the war. With the revolution and counter-revolution already going on war would only complicate matters.

Marat earned many enemies who sought his downfall. He was tried and acquitted before the Revolutionary Tribunal. On July 13th, 1793, Charlotte Corday visited him. He soaked in his bath to relieve his skin. She gave him a list of names from a group that he did not agree with. After Marat told Ms. Corday that the people would be beheaded with the guillotine, she pulled out a knife and stabbed him in the chest. Before she was put to death she said "I killed one man to save 100,000." Thousands were put to death, partially as a result of this assassination which made many view Marat as a hero.