Olympe de Gouges

A pioneering feminist and playwright who challenged gender norms during the French Revolution by advocating for women's rights and equality.

Olympe de Gouges (1748–1793) was a revolutionary French writer and activist whose work laid the foundation for modern feminism. Born Marie Gouze in Montauban, France, she adopted the name Olympe de Gouges after moving to Paris, where she became a vocal advocate for social justice, abolitionism, and women's rights.

De Gouges is best known for drafting the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Female Citizen (1791), a direct response to the male-centric Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. Her manifesto demanded equal education, property rights, and political participation for women, boldly stating, Woman is born free and remains equal to man in rights.

Her play L'Esclavage des Noirs (1788) criticized slavery, making her one of the earliest European abolitionists. Despite facing censorship and imprisonment, she continued publishing radical pamphlets. In 1793, she was executed by guillotine for opposing the Reign of Terror, cementing her legacy as a martyr for equality.