French revolutionary and public prosecutor of the Revolutionary Tribunal (1746–1795). He personified the ruthlessness of the Reign of Terror and claimed among his victims Marie Antoinette and Georges Danton. After the fall of Robespierre, Fouquier-Tinville was himself tried and guillotined. Untranslated DS, in French, signed “A. Q. Fouquier,” one page, 7.5 x 10. In very good condition, with central horizontal and vertical fold, with vertical fold passing through a single letter of signature, rough edges, small strip of old tape along reverse of top edge, and a uniform block of toning from previous display.
Roughly translated, this document sealed the fate of one unfortunate Jean Baptiste Ruffat, a doctor originally from Toulouse in the Haute-Garonne department of France. Brought before the Tribunal, the 40-year-old Ruffat was condemned and his assets seized at the height of The Reign of Terror. On 11 Messidor An II of the Revolutionary Calendar (June 29, 1794), the doctor was guillotined.
After sentencing an estimated 13,000-40,000 people to death, Fouquier-Tinville met the same fate. On May 6, 1795, the despised and feared prosecutor was beheaded with the ‘National Razor’ by his executioner Sanson to the delight of the Paris mob, the last of sixteen heads to roll among his convicted accomplices that day.
RRAuction COA.
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