Source Information

Ancestry.com. French Deaths by Guillotine, 1792-1796 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2009.
Original data: Genéalogie60, comp. Les 13 045 Guillotines Pendant la Terreur. Compiègne, France: Genéalogie60, 2006-2009.

About French Deaths by Guillotine, 1792-1796

The guillotine is well-known for its means as an execution device in France, especially during the French Revolution.

This database contains an index to more than 13,000 individuals who were condemned to be executed in connection with the French Revolution between 1792 and 1796. The majority of the executions were by guillotine. However, this index also contains the names of some individuals condemned to be executed by hanging, drowning, firing squad, or otherwise. While this index contains a significant amount of names, it does not represent every person who was executed during this time period.

The index was created from the following book compiled by Louis Marie Prudhomme: Histoire générale et impartiale des erreurs, des fautes et des crimes commis pendant la Révolution française, a dater du 24 août 1787;: contenant le nombre des individus qui ont péri par la révolution, de ceux qui ont émigré, et les intrigues des factions qui pendant ce tems ont désolé la France., Paris: s.n., 1796. The index was compiled from the section of the book labeled, “Dictionnaire des individus condamnés à mort pendant la Révolution.” (Dictionary of individuals condemned to die during the Revolution.)

Information that may be listed about each person includes:

  • Name

  • Approximate date of death

  • Place of residence

  • Occupation

The death dates are approximate, because the date indexed is generally the date the person was condemned to die. While many executions took place the same day, there was frequently an interval of a day or more between the time the person was condemned to die and their execution.