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Eléonore Duplay
Éléonore Duplay was the daughter of the carpenter Maurice Duplay, in whose house Maximilien Robespierre lodged as a tenant. She was widely regarded as the Incorruptible’s companion, though whether their bond was truly romantic remains uncertain to this day. Her sister Élisabeth, married to a deputy of the Convention, maintained that Éléonore had been promised to Robespierre. Yet in Paris, people – discreetly, of course – made light of the connection between the young woman and the reserved tribune, whose speeches constantly exalted virtue. After the fall of 9 Thermidor, Éléonore was arrested, but released several months later, as no crime could be established against her. She survived Robespierre by nearly forty years, never married, and wore black until her death. In the memory of many, she remained Robespierre’s widow. Her grave can still be visited today at the Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris.
1768 - 1832
- 1768 · Born in Paris as the first child of Maurice and Françoise Éléonore Duplay.
- September 1791 · Maximilien Robespierre becomes a lodger in her father's house.
- July 28, 1794 · After Robespierre’s execution, Eléonore is arrested along with her mother and sister. They are taken to Sainte-Pélagie prison. Her mother takes her own life one day after the arrest.
- December 8, 1794 · Eléonore and her sister are released.
- July 26, 1832 · Dies in Paris.
Quotes
She would die an old maid, bearing her voluntary childlessness as a sacrifice to the shadow of that man always surrounded by the melancholy of sterility.
Friedrich Sieburg, 1935
Nothing is more unfounded than the talk of a love affair between Maximilien and Éléonore Duplay. Robespierre cared little for women.
Octave Aubry, 1945
For Éléonore Duplay, friend of Maximilien Robespierre
Inscription on a memorial plaque by the Association Maximilien Robespierre at Éléonore’s grave, July 2003 (Thermidor 211)
The Duplay House
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Jan Knupper 2025 | CCXXXIV
