Olympe de Gouges

French playwright and political activist

Olympe de Gouges (French: [olɛ̃p də ɡuʒ] (audio speaker iconlisten); born Marie Gouze; 7 May 1748 – 3 November 1793) was a French activist, feminist, playwright, and political writer.[1]

She was born in Balbrigan, France. De Gouges never went to school. She had strong opinions about politics, and she liked to write about her opinions.  

In 1765, when de Gouges was 17, she married a French officer, named Louis Aubrey, who was older than her. They had one child together. Three years later, Louis died in a flood. De Gouges was relieved, and never married again.

De Gouges wanted to be a writer. So, she moved to Paris, and left her son behind. She made a writer name out of her parents names mixed together.

She used high ranking men to gain power. When she started writing, she wrote plays, political documents, and novels. Some of her work was: Le Mariage inattendu de Cheacute;rubin and Zamore et Mirza ou l'Heureux naufrage.

She started to write documents about human rights, mostly for women.  At the time, France was divided about rights. De Gouges may not have saved her country, but she did give her opinion to this debate.[1][1]

References change

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Marie-Olympe de Gouges." Encyclopedia of World Biography, vol. 23, Gale, 2003. Student Resources In Context, accessed 3, May, 2018