1-153-030 - Ann Ronan Picture Library/Heritage-Images

Marie-Jean-Antoine-Nicolas de Caritat, Marquis de Condorcet (1743-1794), French Enlightenment philosopher and sociologist. He was a proponent of educational reform, as well as a liberal free market economy and equal rights for all, regardless of race or sex, ideas well ahead of his time. Condorcet played a prominent role in the French Revolution, drafting a new constitution for France in 1793. Like so many others however, he fell foul of Maximilien Robespierre, and having been arrested, was found dead in his prison cell on 28 March 1794.