Marie-Anne Charlotte de Corday d’Armont (27 July 1768 – 17 July 1793), known simply as Charlotte Corday (French: [kɔʁdɛ]), was a figure of the French Revolution who assassinated revolutionary and Jacobin leader Jean-Paul Marat on 13 July 1793.

Born in Normandy to a minor aristocratic family, Corday was a resident of Caen and a sympathiser of the Girondins, a moderate faction of French revolutionaries in opposition to the Jacobins. She held Jean-Paul Marat responsible for the September Massacres of 1792 and, believing that the Revolution was in jeopardy due to the more radical course the Jacobins had taken, decided to assassinate Marat.

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Aftermath

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The direct consequences of her crime were opposite to what she expected: the assassination did not stop the Jacobins or the Terror, which intensified after the murder. Also Marat became a martyr, a bust of him replaced a religious statue on the rue aux Ours and a number of place-names were changed to honour Marat.