Pauline Léon
Pauline Léon (28 September 1768 – 5 October 1838) was an influential woman during the French Revolution. She played an important role in the Revolution, driven by her strong feminist and anti-royalist beliefs. Along with her friend Claire Lacombe, founded the Society of Revolutionary Republican Women (Société des Républicaines-Révolutionnaires), and she also served as a prominent leader of the Femmes Sans-Culottes. Biography Léon was born to chocolate makers Pierre-Paul Léon and Mathrine Telohan in Paris on 28 September 1768. She was one of six children. When her father died in 1784, Léon began helping her mother with the chocolate business in exchange for room and board. She was also responsible for helping to raise and support her siblings until the time of her marriage. Throughout Léon's life, she became entrenched in the politics of the Revolution. She affiliated herself with radical anti-royalist groups such as the Cordeliers club and the Enragés. It was through these affiliations that she met Théophile Leclerc, a leader of the Enragés, who fought violently for the creation of a French direct democracy. The two were married in 1793 when Pauline was 29 years old. In April of the next year, because of their radical revolutionary