Jean Paul Marat

Image from My Modern Met. "The Death of Marat" painted by Jacques-Louis David in 1793.

On July 13, 1793, Jean Paul Marat was assassinated.

    The French Revolution began in 1789; a revolution that Jean Paul Marat was heavily involved in. Marat encouraged the 1792 September massacres and other instances of revolutionary violence through his newspaper "L'Ami du Peuple" ("The Friend of the People"). In 1792, Marat was elected to the National Convention and was a key organizer of the Reign of Terror, in which he attempted to eliminate those he felt were a threat to the revolution. 

    Jean Paul Marat suffered from a persistent skin condition, and was in overall poor health, causing him to be largely confined to his bathtub, in which he soaked to ease the irritation. It was here that Marat met his end. 

    Charlotte Corday, a member of the Girondin party (the rival political faction of the Jacobins, to which Marat was involved), declared Marat to be an enemy of France. On July 13, 1793, Corday gained access to Marat's chamber by claiming to have a list of enemies of the revolution. Marat was eager for this information, and while engrossed in the list, Corday produced a large knife from her dress and stabbed Marat several times in the chest.

    Four days later, on July 17, Charlotte Corday was beheaded by guillotine. Marat's death sparked many artistic tributes to him, the most famous being Jacques-Louis David's painting "The Death of Marat." This painting became a symbol of the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror, and Marat became immortalized as a martyr for the revolution.