Jacques Roux

Jacques Roux was born in 1752.  Roux read a sermon in 1790 from the Diocese of Saintes where he declared that the Revolution had done nothing to assist the poor farmers of France.  Shortly after this speech unrest would erupt in the local area but Roux had moved to Paris to become an elected priest in Gravilliers section of Paris which was very poor.  He was elected to the Paris Commune and was given the role of escorting Louis XVI to the guillotine.  It was here that he rejected the King’s attempts to pass him his will to be given to the Queen.  He declared, “I am here to take you to execution, not to receive your notes.”

He would increasingly isolate himself from other less radical revolutionaries as he demanded more help for the poor and increased equality.  If this meant shooting perceived aristocratic hoarders and the abolition of private property then this had to be accepted.  Marat proclaimed Roux a false patriot and the Cordeliers Club were forced to evict him under pressure from the Jacobins who were increasingly concerned over Roux’s rhetoric.

He was arrested once for supposed fraud but later released on a lack of evidence.  However he was arrested on the 5th September and was to be put on trial at the Revolutionary Tribunal in January 1794 however he stabbed himself several times.  He did not manage however to kill himself.  A month later he would attempt to kill himself again only this time he would succeed.