Olympe de Gouges

Olympe de Gouges (French: Olympe de Gouges, May 7, 1748 - November 3, 1793), also translated as Olympe de Gouges, formerly known as Marie Gouze, was a French feminist, playwright, and political activist. His works on feminism and abolitionism have a large audience. Born in southwestern France, de Gouges began her prolific career as a playwright in Paris in the 1780s. She was a passionate advocate for human rights and one of the first public voices against slavery in France. Her plays and pamphlets cover a variety of issues including divorce and marriage, children's rights, unemployment and social security. In addition to being a playwright and political activist, she was also a little-known actress before the French Revolution. De Gouges welcomed the outbreak of the French Revolution. As a champion of democracy, De Gouges always sought equal rights for French women and men. But she soon became disappointed when equal rights failed to extend to women. In 1791, in response to the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, de Gouge published the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Citizen, in which she challenged the practices of male authority and advocated equal rights for women. She was one of the few people who fought for women's rights during the French Revolution. During the revolution, she also published many essays on social issues and several plays. During the Reign of Terror of the French Revolution, De Gouges was guillotined for attacking the regime of Maximilian Robespierre and being close to the Girondins.