Georges Danton

Born October 26, 1759 Georges Jacques Danton is known as one of the influential figures in the French Revolution. He was the president of the Committee of Public Safety at its inception and was powerful in the overthrow of the monarchy. He was an influence on the Jacobins and ultimately guillotined by the advocates of the revolutionary terror.
Danton married Antoinette Charpentier in 1787 and they had three sons. Antoinette died in February of 1793 and Danton married Louise Sebastienne Gely.
Danton was president of the Cordeliers Club that was instrumental in the French Revolution and they advocated the need for radical action against the monarchy. Danton was part of the imprisonment of the King and Queen of France in 1971, but fearing backlash he left for England for a time. The morning after the fall of the monarchy Danton was elected as the minister of justice.
Danton voted for the death of Louis XVI in 1793. Danton also instigated the new national system of education and was instrumental in developing the new system of government. He attempted to bridge the hostilities between the Jacobians and the Girondists but to no avail. Danton became a victim of the Terror as he tried to move the direction of the revolution by collaborating with Camille Desmoulins and The Old Cordelier. He was executed for his perceived shady dealings with the foreign countries he visited. He was convicted of fraud and "lining his own pockets with ill gotten gains. He was condemned for fraud against the people of France and beheaded on April 5, 1794.