Aug 7, 2020
Portrait of Olympe Léon, 1788
Growing up surrounded by hungry mouths to feed radicalized Olympe Léon at a young age. This portrait was taken when she was in her twenties, during her rise to prominence as a radical organizer and incendiary feminist writer. She was a founder of the Société des Républicaines-Révolutionnaires along with her longtime companion (and rumored lover), Cécile Leclerc. They shared abolitionist beliefs and coauthored multiple manifestos, including the famous Déclaration des droits de la femme et de la citoyenne in 1791, and a treatise on the importance of solidarity with the people of Haiti in 1792.
