Title: Maximilien Robespierre | Biography, French Revolution, Reign of Terror, Facts, & Death | Britannica
Headings: Maximilien Robespierre
Maximilien Robespierre
French revolutionary
Who was Maximilien Robespierre?
How did Maximilien Robespierre come to power?
What is Maximilien Robespierre known for?
When and how did Maximilien Robespierre die?
Early life
Learn about the life of Maximilien Robespierre
Leadership of the Jacobins
Work in the National Convention

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Leadership of the Jacobins
Robespierre preserved his frugal way of life, his careful dress and grooming, and his simple manners both at Versailles and later in Paris. He quickly attracted attention in an assembly that included some distinguished names. He probably made his maiden speech on May 18, 1789, and he was to speak more than 500 times during the life of the National Assembly. He succeeded in making himself heard despite the weak carrying power of his voice and the opposition he aroused, and his motions were usually applauded. Proofs of his growing popularity were the ferocious attacks made by the royalist press on this “Demosthenes,” “who believes everything he says,” this “monkey of Mirabeau’s” ( the comte de Mirabeau, a politician who wanted to create a constitutional assembly). Auguste Couder: Opening of the Estates-General, May 5, 1789
Opening of the Estates-General, May 5, 1789, oil on canvas by Auguste Couder, 1839; in the Museum of the History of France, Palace of Versailles. Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Robespierre was kept out of the committees and from the presidency of the National Assembly;