Born: 7 May 1748 (Montauban, Quercy, France)
Died: 3 November 1793
Biography:
Olympe de Gouges (French: [ɔ.lɛ̃p də ɡuʒ]; born Marie Gouze; 7 May 1748 3 November 1793) was a French playwright and political activist. She is best known for her Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Female Citizen and other writings on women’s rights and abolitionism.
Born in Montauban, Quercy, in southwestern France, on 7 May 1748, Olympe de Gouges was the daughter of Anne Olympe Mouisset Gouze, who came from a bourgeois family. The identity of her father was ambiguous, with two possibilities being Pierre Gouze, her mother’s husband, or Jean-Jacques Lefranc, Marquis de Pompignan. While it is historically unverifiable, Olympe encouraged rumors that Pompignan was her father, as their relationship seemed plausible.
The Pompignan family had a long-standing connection to the Mouisset family, with Jean-Jacques Lefranc de Pompignan being Anne’s godfather and later becoming close to her. However, he was separated from Anne when he was sent to Paris in 1734. Anne married Pierre Gouze, a butcher, in 1737 and had three children before Olympe. Despite this, Pompignan returned to Montauban in 1747, a year prior to Olympe’s birth. Though legally recognized as her father, Pierre did not attend Olympe’s baptism.
Olympe de Gouges began her prolific career as a playwright in Paris in the 1780s. She passionately advocated for human rights and was one of France’s earliest public opponents of slavery. Her plays and pamphlets covered a wide range of social issues, including divorce and marriage, children’s rights, unemployment, and social security.
Initially welcoming the outbreak of the French Revolution, Olympe soon became disillusioned when equal rights were not extended to women. In 1791, responding to the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, she published her Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Female Citizen, challenging male authority and advocating for equal rights for women.
Olympe de Gouges associated herself with the moderate Girondins and opposed the execution of Louis XVI. However, her increasingly vehement writings, which criticized Robespierre’s radical Montagnards and the Revolutionary government during the Reign of Terror, led to her arrest and execution by guillotine in 1793.
Despite her tragic end, Olympe de Gouges played a significant role in advocating for women’s rights and abolitionism during the French Revolution. Her Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Female Citizen remains a powerful testament to her unwavering dedication to equality and justice.