Theroigne de Mericourt
A miniature of Théroigne de Méricourt now in Louvre
Anne-Josèphe Théroigne de Méricourt born in 1762 in Marcourt, Rendeux. Her mother would die after giving birth to her third child leaving Theroigne to be raised by her aunt in Liege. Her aunt would train her as a seamstress and servant. Theroigne left and would roam France, Italy and England becoming a singer and courtesan.
She found herself in Paris at the onset of the Revolution and was apparently involved in many of the early key incidents including the assault on the Bastille and the march on Versailles. It would seem many of these were exaggerated but her appearance in a white riding coat with pistols and sabres became a well-known sight in Paris. Tall tales circulated in the pamphlets of Paris of her sexual habits with many of the leading Revolutionaries. She did form the very short lived Society of Friends of the Law which sought to help patriots in the provinces.
Jean-Etienne Esquirol drew this portrait of Theroigne de Mericourt in 1816 at La Salpétrière the asylum.
In May 1790 she moved back to Liege where she was arrested by the Austrian government and taken to the Tyrol and her revolutionary habits investigated. There were suggestions that she planned to murder Marie Antoinette. When it was realised that she was not central to the Revolution or had any distinct plans she was released.
When she returned to Paris she was greeted like a hero. The Jacobins initially were happy for her to talk at their club but they began to oppose her attempts to create a female battalion called the Amazones in Paris to fight the Austrians and Prussians. Her attempts to pursue women’s right to equality and improved education for girls were ignored.She was heavily involved in the attack on the Tuileries Palace encouraging the crowd amassing in front of the royal residence. It would also seem she was directly involved in the fighting.
She increasingly moved towards the Girondins. In 1793 she was attacked whilst making a speech outside the Feuillants. Her attackers were Jacobin supporting women and they savagely beat her till Jean-Paul Marat arrived and rescued her. It would appear this caused some form of mental break down as she became increasingly irrational and on the 20th September 1794 she was placed in an insane asylum. She would die in 1817.