“When French revolutionary Maximilien Robespierre realized he was to be executed, he attempted suicide
“When French revolutionary Maximilien Robespierre realized he was to be executed, he attempted suicide. He shot himself in the mouth and when they took him to the guillotine, the executioner ripped off the bandage from his wounded jaw causing him to scream in agony before the crowd until the guillotine killed him.” As a member of the Estates-General, the Constituent Assembly, and the Jacobin Club, he campaigned for the right to vote of all men,[1] especially for the excluded passive citizen and for the abolition of the death penalty in times of peace. In 1791, Robespierre was elected as "public accuser" and became an outspoken advocate for male citizens without a political voice, for their unrestricted admission to the National Guard, to public offices, and to the commissioned ranks of the army, for the right to petition and the right to bear arms in self defence. Robespierre played an important part in the agitation which brought about the fall of the French monarchy on 10 A...