French author and activist Marie Olympe de Gouges (1748-1793) achieved modest success as a playwright in the 18th century, but she became best known for her political writing and support of the French Revolution. Considered a feminist pioneer, de Gouges was an advocate of women's rights. Her most famous work was The Declaration of the Rights of Woman, (1791). Even in revolutionary France, feminist ideas were considered radical. In 1793, she was executed for crimes against the government.

Early Life

Marie-Olympe de Gouges was born Marie Gouzes in Montauban, in southern France, on December 31, 1748. The facts about her true parentage are somewhat vague, and de Gouges herself contributed to the confusion by encouraging rumors about her illegitimacy.

It is commonly believed that she was born and raised in a modest family, the daughter of Pierre Gouze, a butcher, and Anne Olympe Moisset, a maidservant. However, it was rumored that de...