Maximilien Robespierre

About Maximilien Robespierre

Maximilien Robespierre (1758–1794) was a pivotal and highly controversial figure during the French Revolution, earning him an HPI rank of #236 for global influence. As a leading Jacobin and a primary architect of the Reign of Terror, his political control led to the widespread execution of perceived enemies of the revolution, fundamentally reshaping the course of modern European political history and setting precedents for radical political upheaval.

In the context of 2025 online attention, Robespierre receives 1.2 million annualized Wikipedia pageviews. This level of interest marks him as over-attended relative to his historical placement, evidenced by an Attention Gap of +3x over his HPI rank. For comparison, this is less attention than contemporary politician Joe Biden (#329 importance) receives, who garnered 11.0M views in the same period, illustrating a significant modern overvaluation of current political figures compared to this revolutionary leader.

Despite his substantial historical weight, Robespierre's online presence showed a slight decline, dropping 4.6% year-over-year. However, the data indicates a recent spike in curiosity, with Q1 versus Q3 momentum showing a 4% increase, perhaps suggesting renewed academic or cultural interest in the late stages of the year.