A man who changed his calendar in France and committed suicide before his execution during the revolution

In the midst of the French Revolution, large numbers of French people, accused of treason and of supporting the old regime and alliance with foreign parties, were sent to the guillotine after trials often based on false testimony. During the period of terror which, according to most historians, extended between September 5, 1793 and July 28, 1794, which corresponds to the date of the fall and execution of Maximilien Robespierre, France executed approximately 17 thousand of its citizens per guillotine.

Painting by Jean Sylvain Bayi

In addition, the guillotine blade extended up to the necks of a number of the main leaders of the French Revolution, while history records the names of Georges Danton and Camille Desmoulins executed on April 5, 1794 and of Jacques- René Hébert. Jean Sylvain Bailly, executed on March 24, 1794 and mayor of Paris, was the famous reader of the palm game department, executed on November 12, 1793.

He supported the execution of Louis XVI and changed the calendar

In addition to all these prominent names, history also mentions the name Charles-Gilbert Romme, better known as Gilbert Romme, as the latter was one of the men of the revolution and his name was closely associated with the change of calendar in the French Republic. . And unlike those who climbed on the execution platform during the revolution, this French politician refused the humiliation of the guillotine and preferred to end his life himself after a death sentence was pronounced against him.

A painting representing a number of deputies from Créteil

Gilbert Röhm comes from a bourgeois family in the Riom region, the latter completed his studies at the Paris Institute and worked between 1779 and 1790 as a companion of the Russian nobleman Pavel Alexandrovich Stroganov. At the beginning of the year 1790, the latter created the Society of Friends of the Law, and thanks to this, he acquired great popularity, which contributed to his entry into the National Assembly in 1791 and the National Congress from September 1792.

While attending the national conference, Gilbert Rum supported the execution of King Louis XVI and was instrumental in laying the groundwork for the French Republican calendar, according to which the names of days and months were changed to create a new calendar for the French and contrary to the calendar adopted by the Church and the former monarchists.

Portrait of George Danton

Socratic suicide

With Robespierre’s departure, Gilbert Röhm returned to the National Congress and joined a group of deputies, known as the Crêtois group, who on May 20, 1795, participated in a failed coup attempt that ended in the arrest of Rom and several of his comrades. .
During the following period, 11 of those accused of the attempted coup appeared before the military court, and 6 of them were sentenced to death.

A painting embodying the noble Stroganov

Before being taken to the execution platform, these six defendants devised a plan to end their lives in a Socratic manner, comparing how the philosopher Socrates was coerced into taking poison, to avoid this which they described at the time as the guillotine.
While waiting to get into the car that would take them to the execution court on June 17, 1795, the defendants committed suicide by stabbing themselves one by one. Gilbert Rom pulled the knife out of the chest of his friend, Rep. Goujon, before stabbing himself in the face, neck and heart, resulting in his death a few minutes later.

Photo by Gojon

Of the six on death row, three, including Gilbert Röhm, succeeded in achieving their goal of ending their lives before the guillotine reached, while the others failed and were executed later that day.

Imaginary drawing by Jacques René Hebert