Madame Roland and the French Revolution

Marie-Jeanne “Manon” Roland de la Platière, best known as Madame Roland, was a significant figure during the French Revolution. Born on March 17, 1754, in Paris, she was a political activist, salonnière, and writer.

Initially, she led a quiet life as a provincial intellectual with her husband, the economist Jean-Marie Roland de la Platière. However, when the French Revolution broke out in 1789, she became politically active She spent the first years of the revolution in Lyon, where her husband was elected to the city council. During this period, she developed a network of contacts with politicians and journalists.

In 1791, the couple settled in Paris, where Madame Roland established herself as a leading figure within the political group the Girondins. She was known for her intelligence, astute political analyses, and tenacity. The salon she hosted in her home several times a week was an important meeting place for politicians.

The Girondins, also known as Girondists, were a political group active during the French Revolution from 1791 to 1793. They were part of the Jacobin movement and campaigned for the end of the monarchy. The Girondins were a group of loosely affiliated individuals rather than an organized political party. However, the Girondins fell out of favor during the Reign of Terror. They were held responsible for defeats suffered by the army in the spring of 1793 and were made more unpopular by their refusal to respond to the economic demands of the Parisian workers. A popular rising against them in Paris, beginning on May 31, ended when the Convention, surrounded by armed insurgents, ordered the arrest of 29 Girondin deputies on June 22.

However, Madame Roland was also convinced of her own intellectual and moral superiority and alienated important political leaders like Robespierre and Danton. Unlike the feminist revolutionaries Olympe de Gouges and Etta Palm, Madame Roland was not an advocate for political rights for women. She believed that women should play a very modest role in public and political life.

When her husband unexpectedly became Minister of the Interior in 1792, her political influence grew. She had control over the content of ministerial letters, memorandums, and speeches, was involved in decisions about political appointments, and was in charge of a bureau set up to influence public opinion in France.

Unfortunately, she fell out of favor during the Reign of Terror. She was the first Girondin to be arrested during the Terror and was guillotined a few months later. Madame Roland wrote her memoirs while she was imprisoned in the months before her execution. These memoirs, along with her letters, are a valuable source of information about the first years of the French Revolution.