See John Green's Crash Course on the French Revolution

Biography

Olympe de Gouges was an 18th century French philosopher, author and feminist who wrote the Declaration of the Rights of Women and the Female Citizen was a vehement supporter of women's rights.

• Her writing centered around equal rights for all and governments based on the decisions of all people, including women and slaves/black people.

• She encouraged women to seek out their own place in society and to use civil disobedience to make statements, which preceded such notable change agents as Thoreau, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, Jr.
  

• She was strong opponent of slavery, stating it was founded on greed and blind prejudice. 

•  From this opinion, she was sent to the guillotine for being a counterrevolutionary and being denounced as an “unnatural” woman. Officially, she was executed on the count of sedition.

French website available in six languages devoted to de Gouges' life, works, and legacy

Revolutionary Feminist Olympe de Gouges in a Race for a Place in France's Pantheon

Timeline of de Gouges' life

Primary Sources

• The Declaration of the Rights of Women and the Female Citizen

• The Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen

• The Declaration of Independence

• Reflections on Negroes (1788)

• De Gouges was also the first playwright regarded to put a black character center stage and depict slaves from their own point of view in her play Zamore et Mizra, Ou L"Heureux Naufrage 
• This play gives voices to people of color, highlights the barbarity of slavery, and simultaneously puts men and women on equal stages
• She later amended the play, making it more concise and impactful, renaming it L'Esclavage des Noirs, Ou L'Heureux Naufrage 
• Click here for an English translation of the script for L'Esclavage des Noirs, Ou L'Heureux Naufrage 

Olympe de Gouges 266th Birthday Google Doodle (2014)

Multimedia Resources

Olympe de Gouges video done by high school students on YouTube

• Another biographical video done by high school students
  

Biography video by French Educational Project "Virago", meaning women with exemplary or heroic qualities -- English subtitles available, could also be used in French foreign language classroom!

Learning Plans

Liberty, Equality, Fraternity: The Role of Women in the French Revolution, National First Ladies Library

Click here for a lesson plan on the Declaration of the Rights of Women (this is a Word Document)

This lesson plan utilizes this resource for information. 

Click here for an online interactive lesson plan about women and their role in the French Revolution/enlightenment.