Corday, Charlotte

Charlotte (1768-1793), a French heroine. She was of noble birth and was educated in a convent in Caen. She read Voltaire and other progressive French writers, from whom she imbibed the principles of the French Revolution. The bloody scenes enacted by the Parisian leaders filled her with horror. She decided to sacrifice her life in an attempt to strike at the center of the band of men who directed the Reign of Terror. She repaired to Paris, and on July 13, 1793, she gained access to the apartments of Marat, and under pretense of presenting a petition for signature, stabbed that monster to death as he sat in a bath tub seeking relief from an affliction. Two days later she was tried by the tribunal, and was sent to the guillotine. Her act reminds the reader of similar self-sacrifices made by Russian women who have carried out the plans of Nihilist leaders.