Anne-Joseph Théroigne de Méricourt (August 13, 1762 – June 9, 1817) became a figurehead during the
French RevolutionThe French Revolution was a period of political and social upheaval and radical change in the history of France, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy, underwent radical change to forms based...
. She was born at Marcourt (from which her designation "de Méricourt" was corrupted), a small town on the banks of the
OurtheThe Ourthe is a 165 km long river in the Ardennes in Wallonia . It is a right tributary to the river Meuse. The Ourthe is formed at the confluence of the Ourthe Occidentale and the Ourthe Orientale , west of Houffalize.The source of the Ourthe Occidentale is near Libramont-Chevigny, in the Belgian...
in
BelgiumThe Kingdom of Belgium is a country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters, as well as those of other major international organizations, including NATO...
.
Anne-Joseph was the daughter of a well-to-do farmer, Peter Théroigne. She appears to have been well educated, having been brought up in the
conventA convent is either a community of priests, religious brothers, religious sisters, or nuns, or the building used by the community, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion...
of Robermont; apparently she was quick-witted, strikingly handsome in appearance and intensely passionate in temper; and she had a vigorous eloquence, which she used with great effect upon the mobs of
ParisParis is the capital of France and the country's most populous city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
during that short space of her life (1789-93) which alone is of historical interest.
The story told by Lamartine and others of her being betrayed by a young
seigneurLord is a title with various meanings. It can denote a prince or a feudal superior . The title today is mostly used in connection with the peerage of the United Kingdom or its predecessor countries, although some users of the title do not themselves hold peerages, and use it 'by courtesy'...
and consequently devoting her life to avenge her wrongs upon
aristocratThe aristocracy are people considered to be in the highest social class in society, who traditionally have land, money, and power. They are often members of a hereditary nobility that derives its stature from a lineage traceable to the original inhabitants or rulers of a region...
s is unfounded.
Anne-Joseph Théroigne de Méricourt (August 13, 1762 – June 9, 1817) became a figurehead during the
French RevolutionThe French Revolution was a period of political and social upheaval and radical change in the history of France, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy, underwent radical change to forms based...
. She was born at Marcourt (from which her designation "de Méricourt" was corrupted), a small town on the banks of the
OurtheThe Ourthe is a 165 km long river in the Ardennes in Wallonia . It is a right tributary to the river Meuse. The Ourthe is formed at the confluence of the Ourthe Occidentale and the Ourthe Orientale , west of Houffalize.The source of the Ourthe Occidentale is near Libramont-Chevigny, in the Belgian...
in
BelgiumThe Kingdom of Belgium is a country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters, as well as those of other major international organizations, including NATO...
.
Biography
Anne-Joseph was the daughter of a well-to-do farmer, Peter Théroigne. She appears to have been well educated, having been brought up in the
conventA convent is either a community of priests, religious brothers, religious sisters, or nuns, or the building used by the community, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion...
of Robermont; apparently she was quick-witted, strikingly handsome in appearance and intensely passionate in temper; and she had a vigorous eloquence, which she used with great effect upon the mobs of
ParisParis is the capital of France and the country's most populous city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
during that short space of her life (1789-93) which alone is of historical interest.
The story told by Lamartine and others of her being betrayed by a young
seigneurLord is a title with various meanings. It can denote a prince or a feudal superior . The title today is mostly used in connection with the peerage of the United Kingdom or its predecessor countries, although some users of the title do not themselves hold peerages, and use it 'by courtesy'...
and consequently devoting her life to avenge her wrongs upon
aristocratThe aristocracy are people considered to be in the highest social class in society, who traditionally have land, money, and power. They are often members of a hereditary nobility that derives its stature from a lineage traceable to the original inhabitants or rulers of a region...
s is unfounded. Instead, she left her home on account of a quarrel with her stepmother and began a career as a
courtesanA courtesan was originally a woman courtier, which means a person who attends the court of a monarch or other powerful person. In feudal society, the court was the centre of government as well as the residence of the monarch, and social and political life were often completely mixed together...
and singer, visiting
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
, Paris and
GenoaGenoa is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria. The city has a population of about 610,000 and the urban area has a population of about 900,000...
.
Involvement in the French Revolution
In 1789, she returned to Paris. On the outbreak of the Revolution, she was surrounded by a coterie of well-known men, chief of whom were
PétionJérôme Pétion de Villeneuve was a French writer and politician.Jérôme Pétion de Villeneuve was the son of a at Chartres. Though it is known that he was trained as a lawyer, very few specifics are known about Petion’s early life, as he was virtually unknown prior to the French Revolution...
and
Camille DesmoulinsLucie Simplice Camille Benoist Desmoulins was a French journalist and politician who played an important role in the French Revolution. He was closely associated with Georges Danton.-Early life:...
. She did not, however, play the role legend has assigned her. She took no part in the taking of the
BastilleThe Bastille was a fortress-prison in Paris, known formally as Bastille Saint-Antoine—Number 232, Rue Saint-Antoine—best known today because of the storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789, which along with the Tennis Court Oath is considered the beginning of the French Revolution. The event was...
nor in bringing the King and Queen from
VersaillesVersailles , a city renowned for its château, the Palace of Versailles, was the de facto capital of the kingdom of France for over a century, from 1682 to 1789. It is now a wealthy suburb of Paris and remains an important administrative and judicial center...
to Paris on October 5-6. In 1790 she had a political salon and spoke once at the club of the
CordeliersThe Cordeliers, also known as the Club of the Cordeliers and formally as the Society of the Friends of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen , was a populist club during the French Revolution....
. The same year she left Paris for Marcourt, then travelled onto
LiegeLiège is a major city and municipality of Belgium located in the province of Liège, of which it is the administrative capital, in Wallonia, the French-speaking region of Belgium.The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse River, near Belgium's eastern borders...
, where she was seized by warrant of the
AustriaAustria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.3 million people in Central Europe. It borders both Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west...
n Government on suspicion of involvement in a plot to kill the Queen of France. She was taken first to
TirolTyrol is a state or Bundesland, located in the west of Austria. It comprises the Austrian part of the historical region of Tyrol.The state is split into two parts – called North Tyrol and East Tyrol – by a 20 km-wide strip of land where the state of Salzburg borders directly on the Italian...
and then
ViennaVienna is the capital of the Republic of Austria and also one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.7 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre. It is the 10th largest city by...
.
After an interview with the emperor
Leopold IILeopold II , born Peter Leopold Joseph Anton Joachim Pius Gotthard, was Holy Roman Emperor from 1790 to 1792, King of Hungary, archduke of Austria, and Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1765 to 1790. He was a son of Emperor Francis I and his wife, Empress Maria Theresa...
, however, she was released and returned to Paris in January 1792. The story of her captivity renewed interest in her and her influence once again grew. Her voice was often heard in the clubs of Paris and even in the
National AssemblyThe National Assembly is either a legislature, or the lower house of a bicameral legislature in some countries. The best known National Assembly, and the first legislature to be known by this title, was that established during the French Revolution in 1789, known as the Assemblée nationale...
, where she would violently interrupt the expression of any moderatist views. Known as
la belle Ligoise, she appeared in public dressed in a riding habit, a plume in her hat, a pistol in her belt and a sword dangling at her side, exciting mobs with violent harangues. Associated with the
GirondistThe Girondists were a political faction in France within the Legislative Assembly and the National Convention during the French Revolution...
s and the enemies of Robespierre, she became the "Fury of the Gironde".
Later life
On June 20, 1792, she took personal command of the Third Corps of the so-called "Army of the
FaubourgFaubourg is an ancient French term approximating "suburb" . The earliest form is Forsbourg, derived from Latin foris, 'out of', and Vulgar Latin burgum, 'town' or 'fortress'...
s", again winning the gratitude of the people. Consequently, she shares a heavy responsibility for her connection with the riots a few weeks later on August 10. Suleau, a contributor to the journal
Acts of the Apostles, earned her savage hatred by using a play on words to associate her with a deputy named Populus, whom she had never seen. Having watched the
Place VendômePlace Vendôme is a square in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France, located to the north of the Tuileries Gardens and east of the Église de la Madeleine. It is the starting point of the Rue de la Paix. Its regular architecture by Jules Hardouin-Mansart and pedimented screens canted across the...
massacre with approval, Suleau was pointed out to her. She sprang at him, dragged him among the infuriated mob, where he was stabbed to death in an instant. She took no part in the September massacres; and, moderating her conduct, became less popular from 1793. Towards the end of May 1793, the
JacobinA Jacobin, in the context of the French Revolution, was a member of the Jacobin Club . At that time, the term was popularly applied to all promulgators of revolutionary opinions. In contemporary France it refers to the concept of a centralized Republic, with power concentrated in the national...
women seized her, stripped her naked and flogged her in the public garden of the Tuileries. The following year she lost her sanity and was removed to a private house; then, in 1800, to
La Salpetrière for a month; and finally the
Petites Maisons (Little Mansions), a place of confinement where she remained a raving maniac until 1807. She was then moved back to
La Salpetrière, where she died, having never recovered her reason, on the June 9, 1817.