Maximilien Marie Isidore de Robespierre was born at Arras, France on May 6, 1758.
Robespierre joined the political scene (the Jacobins) after experiencing a successful career in law. He studied law in Paris through a scholarship.
He was elected to the States-General in 1789. He became leader of the Jacobin Club. The club derived its name from the monastery of the Jacobins (Parisian name of Dominicans), where the members met.
In 1793 he demanded the execution of the king and was able to purge the Girondists, his opposing party.
In July, 1793 he was elected to the Committee of Public Safety. The dangers of foreign invasion and the urgent need to maintain order and unity lead the committee to inaugurate the Reign of Terror (1793-1794).
Robespierre liked to play chess at the Cafe de la Regence. However, when he became more powerful during the Reign of Terror, few people showed up at the cafe when he was there. The Reign of Terror kept Philidor from returning to France.
During the summer of 1793 he was supposed to have granted a condemned man freedom after losing to his fiancee/wife at the Cafe de la Regence. One source (Ripley's Believe It or Not in 1944) says that the life he spared was Thomas Paine ( 1737-1809), the author of the "Rights of Man." Paine's wife disguised herself in men's clothes, went to the cafe, and succeeded in engaging him in a chess game. She was supposed to have won two games. Robespierre would grant her any wish if she could beat him a third game. She did and asked for the life of her husband.
Paine was arrested by Robespierre and imprisoned. However, it was an American delegation that solicited the release of Thomas Paine from prison. Paine was protected by Monroe, the American minister in France at the time.
Another source says the lady was Jacqueline Armand, the fiance of a duke about to be guillotined. She cut off her hair so she could enter the men's only cafe. When the seat in front of Robespierre became vacant, she took it, asking a special favor if she won, offering money if she lost. She won, and her lover went free.
Another source says it was the wife of the Marquis de Merin who defeated Robespierre. She was disguised as a man, wearing a wig. When she beat him, Robespierre reached for his wallet ans asked his opponent how much he owed him for the defeat. The player responded, "Yes, you lost the game, but all I claim is the life of an innocent man." She then handed Robespierre a release note for the Marquis, who had recently been condemmed to death by guillotine. Robespierre admired her courage and signed the release note.
Another source (Fraser's Magazine, 1840) says the condemned man was a young French officer and a young girl (no mention of fiancee or wife) came to the cafe attired in men's clothing. She checkmated Robespierre, then revealed her sex, and demanded the life of this French officer. She left her chair with a written order for his immediate release, and with a passport to pass the French frontier in safety.
Robespierre was the symbol of the Reign of Terror. During that period of one year, 17,000 peopled were executed as enemies of the state.
When Robespierre threatened further purges, he was shot and arrested on July 27, 1794 and guillotined the next morning on July 28, 1794 at the age of 36. He was the only person guillotined face upwards.