Corday, Charlotte

Corday, Charlotte (Marie Anne Charlotte Corday d'Armont) (märē' än shärlôt' kōrdā' därmôN') [key], 1768–93, assassin of Jean Paul Marat. Although of aristocratic background, she sympathized with the Girondists in the French Revolution and felt that Marat, in his persecution of the Girondists, was acting as the evil genius of France. She resolved to emulate the action of Brutus and destroy the “tyrant.” Leaving her native Normandy for Paris, she gained an audience with Marat by promising to betray the Girondists of Caen and stabbed him (July 13, 1793) in his bath. She was guillotined.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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