Famous People Who Died In 1794

Antoine Lavoisier was a French chemist and nobleman. He played a crucial role during the chemical revolution of the 18th-century. Widely regarded as the father of modern chemistry, Lavoisier had a major influence on the history of biology as well as the history of chemistry. He also helped build the metric system. 

Georges Danton was a major figure in the early stages of the French Revolution. While many historians state that he played a key role in the establishment of the First French Republic, a few scholars refute this claim. He served as the first president of the Committee of Public Safety and was beheaded by the advocates of revolutionary terror. 

French mathematician and philosopher Marquis de Condorcet was a champion for liberal economy and women’s rights. He was a significant contributor of the Encyclopédie and was part of the Academy of Sciences. He is also remembered for his political activities in the wake of the French Revolution.

Cesare Beccaria was an 18th-century Italian criminologist, philosopher, jurist, and politician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest thinkers of the Age of Enlightenment. He is still remembered for his treatise On Crimes and Punishments (1764), a pioneering work in the field of penology. He is considered the father of modern criminal law. 

Eighteenth-century historian and author Edward Gibbon is best remembered for his 6-volume historical work The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, a narrative that charted events from the 2nd century to the Fall of Constantinople. He had also been an MP, representing Lymington and Liskeard.

James Lind revolutionized medical science by recommending lemon juice and citrus fruits as remedies for scurvy in British Navy officials. Though born into a Scottish merchant family, he ended up becoming a successful naval surgeon. His research also included the prevention of typhus among seamen.

Scottish explorer James Bruce is best known for his treatises of travel and his discovery of the source of the Blue Nile. Initially a wine merchant, he later became a British consul in Algiers and decided to explore North Africa. He traveled to places such as Syria, Ethiopia, and Egypt.

French revolutionary Jean-Baptiste Carrier is remembered for his radicalism, his actions during the the War in the Vendée, and his notorious atrocities against counter-revolutionaries, such as the murder of thousands of people at Nantes. He was eventually found guilty of mass murder by the Revolutionary Tribunal and guillotined.

American politician and slaveholder Abraham Clark, a Revolutionary War figure who earned the reputation as "the poor man's councilor," signed the United States Declaration of Independence as a delegate for New Jersey to the Continental Congress. He later served as Member of the United States House of Representatives from New Jersey's At-large district in both the Second and Third United States Congress.

John Witherspoon was a Scottish American slaveholder, Presbyterian minister, and Founding Father of the United States. A signatory to the Declaration of Independence, Witherspoon also signed the Articles of Confederation. He also played a crucial role in shaping public policy in the United States of America.

Marguerite-Élie Guadet was a French politician who played an important role during the Revolutionary period. During the French Revolution, Guadet led the Girondin faction of working-class revolutionaries. An ardent supporter of the democratic monarchy, Marguerite-Élie Guadet opposed the ministers of Louis XVI.

Known for her iconic ballad Flowers of the Forest, author Alison Cockburn, or Alicia Cockburn was also quite popular as a witty socialite. Her advocate husband was penniless, and following his death, she created a network among the intellectual circle of Edinburgh, which included Robert Burns and Walter Scott.

Turkish-born French poet André de Chénier is considered one of the greatest 18th-century French poets. Considered as an inspiration for the Romantic movement, he also worked as a political journalist. His political criticism got him guillotined during the French Revolution, on the orders of Maximilien Robespierre.

Austrian chancellor Wenzel Anton, Prince of Kaunitz-Rietberg was a supporter of enlightened absolutism. Though he initially studied law, he later rose to be the State Chancellor of the Habsburg monarchy and stayed in the position for almost 40 years. He witnessed the Seven Years’ War during his tenure.

François Hanriot was a Sans-culotte leader and street orator. He played an important role during the French Revolution, commanding the National Guard. He played a crucial role in the insurrection of May 31 to 2 June 1793 which resulted in the fall of the Girondins. François Hanriot’s arrest and execution went a long way in ending the Reign of Terror.

Anacharsis Cloots was a Prussian nobleman who played a significant role in the French Revolution. Born into a wealthy family, he spent his youth traveling across the world preaching his revolutionary ideas. He was a world federalist and is believed to be the first person to advocate a world parliament. He was nicknamed "a personal enemy of God." 

Pierre Gaspard Chaumette was a French politician who played a prominent role during the French Revolution. Chaumette played a key role in the inception of the Reign of Terror during which he was serving as the president of the Paris Commune. A vehement critic of Christianity, Chaumette led the dechristianization of France during the revolution.

Jacques Roux was a French Roman Catholic priest. During the French Revolution, Roux expounded the ideals of the classless society and popular democracy to working class wage earners, Parisian sans-culottes, and shopkeepers, turning ordinary men into a revolutionary force. He is thus remembered as a radical revolutionary who went on to lead a popular far-left in France.