A lawyer, he was elected to the National Assembly of 1789-91.

His defence of democratic principles made him widely popular in Paris, while his disinterestedness won him the nickname of "the Incorruptible".

As leader of the Jacobins in the National Convention he supported the execution of Louis XVI and the overthrow of the Girondins.

In July 1793 was elected to the committee of Public Safety, the effective governing body of France during the most radical phase of the French Revolution.

His zeal for social reform and his attack on the excesses of the extremists made him enemies on both right and left.

He presided over the Reign of Terror in which many French men and women lost their heads in the guillotine, a fate which later befell himself after his arrest in July 1794 for issuing threats to the National Convention.

A cospiracy was formed against him, and he was ovethrown and guillotined.

According to "People" chapter of the Alyson Almanac, 1st ed., Boston: Alyson Publications, 1989, he possibly had an affair with Louis Saint Just.