Madame Roland was born in Paris in 1754. She was very well educated, studying literature, music, and dance. Roland had some schooling in a convent, where she was influenced by reading the work of Voltaire and Plutarch. In 1780, she married the philosopher Jean-Marie Roland de la Platière. This husband and wife team both became supporters of the French Revolution and were leaders of the Girondins. Interestingly, Madame Roland and her husband had first identified with the Jacobin Club before defecting and creating the Girondin party. Most of Roland's influence came from her "tweaking" of her husband's political letters and pamphlets. Roland also had a salon at the Hotel Brittanique in Paris. In 1793, during the Reign of Terror, Roland and other Girondins were arrested, their crime treason. During her imprisonment, Roland wrote her memoirs and had them smuggled out of prison by her visitors. Roland helped her husband escape Paris and was eventually guillotined in November 1793. Her memoirs were published posthumously, allowing Madame Roland to continue influencing the formation of the French Republic.
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