''Observations on Maximilien Robespierre'' (''Observations sur Maximilien Robespierre'') is a book about

French revolutionary The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are consider ...

leader

Maximilien Robespierre Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre (; 6 May 1758 – 28 July 1794) was a French lawyer and statesman who became one of the best-known, influential and controversial figures of the French Revolution. As a member of the Esta ...

written and published in 1836 by Italian writer and conspirator

Philippe Buonarroti :''See also Filippo Buonarroti (1661–1733).'' Filippo Giuseppe Maria Ludovico Buonarroti, more usually referred to under the French version Philippe Buonarroti (11 November 1761 – 16 September 1837), was an Italian utopian socialist, wri ...

Overview

The book was Buonarroti's final publication before his death and was remarkable in its time for its positive view of Robespierre's actions. Buonarroti went so far as to characterize Robespierre as next in a long line of heroic succession that included historical and legendary figures such as

Moses Moses hbo, מֹשֶׁה, Mōše; also known as Moshe or Moshe Rabbeinu (Mishnaic Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ, ); syr, ܡܘܫܐ, Mūše; ar, موسى, Mūsā; grc, Mωϋσῆς, Mōÿsēs () is considered the most important pro ...

Pythagoras Pythagoras of Samos ( grc, Πυθαγόρας ὁ Σάμιος, Pythagóras ho Sámios, Pythagoras the Samos, Samian, or simply ; in Ionian Greek; ) was an ancient Ionians, Ionian Ancient Greek philosophy, Greek philosopher and the eponymou ...

Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

, and

Mohammed Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monoth ...

. In Buonarroti's opinion, the incorruptible Robespierre fought a society which was "gangrenous" and singlehandedly laid the foundations of a people's republic. The work was intended by the aging Buonarroti to portray Robespierre as a model for socialist revolutionaries of the 1830s, a portrayal which greatly influenced young socialists and republicans who were acquainted with or inspired by Buonarroti, such as

Albert Laponneraye Albert Laponneraye (8 May 1808 – 1 September 1849) was a French republican socialist and a journalist, popular historian, educator and editor of Robespierre's writings. He was a representative of the Neo-Babouvist tendency in the 1840s, alo ...

. Laponneraye himself went on to befriend

Charlotte de Robespierre Marie Marguerite Charlotte de Robespierre (5 February 1760, Arras – 1 August 1834, Paris) was a French writer, known for the memoirs she dictated about the life of her brothers during the French Revolution. Life She was the second daughter ...

and published several works of his own about the life of her brother. The first reprint of the book (which was initially anonymously published) was done in 1837 in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, attached to ''Le Radical'', and it has since been reprinted several times.

References

* 19th-century history books 1836 books Works about Maximilien Robespierre {{france-hist-book-stub