Olympe de Gouges, a female French political activist and playwright, wrote the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Female Citizen in 1791 in direct response to the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen. The document sheds light on the failure of the French Revolution to extend its ideals beyond men and demands political and legal equality for women.
De Gouges was an outspoken critic of the government during the revolution’s “Reign of Terror” from 1793 to 1794. As a result, she was the only female to be executed for her political writings during this period.
Portrait of Olympe de Gouges (via Wikimedia Commons)