Name the French revolutionary who wrote Declaration of the Rights of Woman and Female Citizen.

Olympe de Gouges was a prominent French revolutionary, writer, and social reformer who authored the 'Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen' in 1791 [1]. She wrote this seminal document as a direct response to the 1789 'Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen', which she felt excluded women from the revolutionary promise of equality [3]. In her declaration, she asserted that women are born free and remain equal to men in rights, advocating for their right to participate in political life and public employment. Her work was highly influential, inspiring other feminist thinkers like Mary Wollstonecraft, who published 'A Vindication of the Rights of Woman' a year later [3]. Despite her contributions to the revolution, Gouges was eventually guillotined in 1793 by the Jacobins for her political views and opposition to Robespierre [2].

Sources

1. [1] History , class XII (Tamilnadu state board 2024 ed.) > Chapter 11: The Age of Revolutions > Constitution Making > p. 159
2. [2] India and the Contemporary World - I. History-Class IX . NCERT(Revised ed 2025) > Chapter 1: The French Revolution > Some of the basic rights set forth in Olympe de Gouges' Declaration. > p. 20
3. [3] https://www.britannica.com/biography/Olympe-de-Gouges