Camille Desmoulins

Camille Desmoulins (1760-1794) was a French journalist and political activist who participated actively in the events of the French Revolution, writing pamphlets against Louis XVI and the royalists who supported him. Being a close friend of Georges Danton, he was a Jacobin who favored the abolition of the monarchy as he had declared himself a republican from the very beginning. Nevertheless, after the French King had been executed by guillotine, Camille Desmoulins politically alienated Maximilien Robespierre during the Reign of Terror by supporting the moderates. Desmoulins and Danton were accused of being counter revolutionaries and were both beheaded on the guillotine on April 5, 1794.

Camille Desmoulins was born at Guise, Aisne, in Picardy, France, on March 2, 1760, to Jean Benoit Nicolas Desmoulins, who was a lawyer and lieutenant-general of the bailliage of Guise. His father obtained a scholarship for him to enter the College Louis-le-Grand in Paris. In 1789, when the French Revolution broke out, the Count of Mirabeau, a powerful political figure within the Estates-General who positioned himself as a bridge between the aristocracy and the emerging reformist movement, briefly enlisted Desmoulins to write for his newspaper at this time, strengthening Desmoulins’ reputation as a journalist. He denounced the French aristocracy and the paper became very popular. By this time, Desmoulins had also joined the Jacobins Club and was opposed to the Girondists, and more particularly to Jean-Pierre Brisot.

On July 16, 1791, Desmoulins appeared before the Paris Commune as the head of a group petitioning for the deposition of Louis XVI, who had, in June of that year, briefly fled Paris with his family before being captured and escorted back to the city. In 1792, when the war against Austria broke out, Desmoulins, like Robespierre, opposed this war. However, he changed his mind and joined the ideas of Danton and Marat. In 1792, France was at war with Austria. At first, Desmoulins, like his friend Robespierre, opposed this war. Then he changed his mind and joined the ideas of Danton and Marat. After the downfall of the Monarchy on August 10th, 1792 Desmoulins became the secretary of Danton, the Justice Minister. On September 8, 1792, he was elected deputy in the National Convention and belonged to the “Montagnards” group. At the beginning he was close to Robespierre, however, he took some distance from him after the condamnation of the Girondists group in October 1793.

In December 1793, Desmoulins created a another newspaper called “Le vieux cordeliers” where he denounced the extreme ideas of the “Enrages” (the group headed by Robespierre and Saint-Just) and asked for peace between partisans of the Revolution. Robespierre turned his back to Desmoulins as his newspaper defended Danton’s opinions. Accused of treason and counter revolutionaries, Demoulins and Danton were arrested on March 31, 1794, and sentenced to be executed by guillotine. On April 5, 1794, Desmoulins and Danton were beheaded on the guillotine.