Person

Olympe de Gouges

1748–1793 · 18th century · Also known as Marie Gouze

Olympe de Gouges was a French playwright and political activist, best known for her Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Female Citizen. Writing plays in Paris from the 1780s, she was also one of France's earliest public opponents of slavery. Her declaration of 1791, an answer to the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, advocated equal rights for women. Associated with the Girondins, she opposed the execution of Louis XVI; her writings against the Montagnards led to her arrest, and she was guillotined in November 1793.

Olympe de Gouges
Image: Alexander Kucharsky · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 2 profiles

Enlightenmentpeople, outcomesWomen's suffrage movementbackground

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Olympe de Gouges. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/olympe-de-gouges
MLA
“Olympe de Gouges.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/olympe-de-gouges. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Olympe de Gouges.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/olympe-de-gouges.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Olympe de Gouges’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/olympe-de-gouges (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻