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Anne-Josèphe Théroigne de Méricourt
The attractive Belgian Théroigne de Méricourt was the dazzling Amazon of the Republic. She staged herself effectively on all the great days of the Revolution. She supported the war and demanded the arming of women as a consequence of full equality. Théroigne sympathized with the Girondins and was even rumored to have had an affair with Brissot. But in May 1793, the political tide turned in favor of the radicals. A frenzied mob of Jacobin women publicly whipped the defenseless Théroigne. This event drove her mad. She spent the rest of her life in an asylum. She died, completely insane, at the Salpêtrière hospital in Paris.
1762 - 1817
- August 13, 1762 · Born in Marcourt (Belgium) as Anne-Josèphe Théroigne, daughter of Élisabeth Lahaye and Pierre Théroigne, a wealthy farmer.
- December 1767 · After the death of her mother, she is sent to live with her aunt in Liège, where she is educated in a convent school.
- May 1789 · After a restless life in Paris, London, and Rome, she returns to Paris. She follows the revolutionary events and draws attention by dressing as an Amazon.
- January 1790 · Together with Gilbert Romme, she founds the Society of the Friends of the Law.
- May 1790 · She leaves Paris and goes abroad. In Austria, she is briefly imprisoned on suspicion of playing a key role in the Revolution.
- January 1792 · Upon returning to Paris, she is celebrated as a heroine because of her imprisonment in Austria. She speaks at the Jacobin Club and advocates for women’s right to bear arms.
- August 10, 1792 · She takes part in the storming of the Tuileries and receives the civic crown. Later, she allies herself with the Girondins, opponents of the Montagnards and Jacobins.
- May 15, 1793 · She is attacked and severely beaten by Jacobin women. Jean-Paul Marat comes to her aid.
- September 20, 1794 · She is officially declared insane.
- 1807 · Admitted to the Salpêtrière asylum in Paris.
- June 8, 1817 · She dies at the Salpêtrière in Paris.
Quotes
Let us break our chains. It is time for women to finally rise from their shameful insignificance.
Théroigne de Méricourt
She insulted and threatened everyone, spoke only of liberty, committees of public safety, revolutionaries, and so on. She accused anyone who came near her of being a moderate or a royalist.
Jean-Etienne Esquirol, Psychiatrist at the Salpêtrière, 1807
As long as Théroigne’s madness was carried by the revolutionary ideal, it could remain hidden.
Élisabeth Roudinesco, 1989
Arm yourselves!
rom a speech by Théroigne de Méricourt before the Fraternal Society of the Minimes, on March 25, 1792.
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