CORDAY D'ARMANS, Icor-di dir-matt, Marie Anne Charlotte, French revolutionist: b. Saint Saturnin, near Seez, Normandy, 27 July 1768; d. Paris, 17 July 1793. She had passed her early years in a convent and had read Plutarch, Rousseau, Raynal and Voltaire. Her lover was accused by Marat as a con spirator against the republic, and assassinated by villains hired for that purpose. This excited Charlotte Corday to revenge. History had in spired her with a deep-rooted hatred against all oppressors, and she determined to free her country from Marat. Having left home, she entered Paris 11 July 1793, and obtained an interview with Marat on the pretext of dis closing Girondists' plots. In the Ami du Petsple of that morning Marat had asked for 200,000 heads, and Charlotte told him she could give him those of the Girondists at Caen. The as semblies at Calvados were the first subjects of conversation, and Marat heard with eagerness the names of those who were present at them. *All these,p he exclaimed, °shall be guillotined.° At these words Charlotte plunged her dagger into his bosom, and he called out °A nal! mon amip; when some attendants rushed in and seized her. On the morning of 17 July she appeared before the revolutionary tribunal with a dignified air, and her replies were firm and noble. She spoke of her deed as a duty which
she owed her country. Being condemned to death she was guillotined the same day, retain ing her presence of mind to the last. Her remarkable beauty, and her lofty bearing on her way to the guillotine, sent a thrill even through the hearts of her executioner& One young German enthusiast, Adam Lux, a deputy from the city of Mentz, on witnessing the execution, conceived a romantic passion for her, and when her head fell, he cried with a voice hoarse with emotion: °She is greater than Brutus.° He wrote a pamphlet, suggesting that a statue with such an inscription should be erected to her memory. He was arrested and guillotined. Andre Chenier, who had paid a glowing poetical homage to her heroism, shared the same fate before a year had elapsed. When Vergniaud was informed of Charlotte's death, he ex claimed: °She has killed us, but she teaches us how to die' Consult Dubois, (Charlotte Corday' (Paris 1838) ; Defrance, (Charlotte Corday et la mort de Ararat' (1909) • La martine, (Histoire des Girondins' ; guard, (Memoires sur Charlotte Corday> (1866) ; Vatel, (Charlotte Corday et les Girondins' (Paris 1872) ; (Bibliographie des femmes celebres) (3 vols., Turin and Rome 1892-1905).