Couthon, Georges
Couthon, Georges
(zhōrzh ko͞otôN`), 1755?–1794, French revolutionary. An able lawyer, he was elected to the Legislative Assembly (1791) and to the Convention (1792). He became (1793) an important member of the Committee of Public Safety, the dictatorial body that ruled France in 1793 and 1794 under Maximilien RobespierreRobespierre, Maximilien Marie Isidore, 1758–94, one of the leading figures of the French Revolution. Early Life
A poor youth, he was enabled to study law in Paris through a scholarship.
..... Click the link for more information. . He generally supported Robespierre in the Reign of TerrorReign of Terror,
1793–94, period of the French Revolution characterized by a wave of executions of presumed enemies of the state. Directed by the Committee of Public Safety, the Revolutionary government's Terror was essentially a war dictatorship, instituted to rule the
..... Click the link for more information. . Although partially paralyzed, he led the army that took (1793) Lyons from the counterrevolutionists. As commissioner there he proved most humane, in contrast with his successor Jean Marie Collot d'Herbois. Couthon fell with Robespierre in the coup of 9 ThermidorThermidor
, 11th month of the French Revolutionary calendar. The coup of 9 Thermidor (July 27, 1794) marked the downfall of Robespierre and the end of the Reign of Terror.
..... Click the link for more information. (July 27, 1794) and was guillotined.