Which person from the French Revolution are you most closely connected to?

Question

This week we're featuring participants in the French Revolution in the Connection Finder for Bastille Day, starting with Maximilien de Robespierre.

Featured alongside him are other revolutionaries and counter-revolutionaries:

• Madame Germaine de Staël
• Claude Rouget de Lisle
• Francois Kellermann
• Thérésia (Cabarrus) Tallien
• Georges Danton
• Victor François de Broglie
• Hans Axel von Fersen
• Marie Anne Charlotte de Corday
• Olympe de Gouges
• Marie-Antoinette

Who are you most closely connected to? If you're one of the 23,028,000 of us who are connected to each other on our big tree you can check with the Connection Finder.

You can check for shared ancestors with the Relationship Finder. Are you a cousin to any of them? Your Relationship Finder Quick Links page (see your profile pull-down menu under "Relationships") has quick links for several notable groups.

Let us know below! If you want to share your connection on social media with cousins and friends, click the "get shareable image" below the results, e.g. Maximilien Robespierre and Marie-Antoinette. Then just upload it along with the URL of your direct connection. (Please refrain from sharing your connection on the featured profiles, though. It clutters conversations on research and collaboration. Thanks!)

P.S. Help us choose and improve profiles for next week's feature: Summer Olympics!

Comments

It looks like the connection finder is stuck with last week's inventors in the list below the "Connection Finder" heading.  Can we get it updated to show this week's set?

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Thanks for pointing that out, Steve. I was starting to wonder if it was just me having that problem!

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Thanks, Steve and Ellen. This is fixed.

Ooh, as a supplement to this week's connection feature, try this: Special:MyConnections&c=R%C3%A9volution_Fran%C3%A7aise [more information].

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furthest Robespierre at 42 ,closest is Marie Antoinette at 20 degrees and  have 80 or so more common ancestors but this is through an uncertain line on my side

Answer 1

19 Degrees from Marie-Antoinette (14th cousins, 5x removed)
19 Degrees from Francois Kellermann
20 Degrees from Thérésia (Cabarrus) Tallien
20 Degrees from Olympe de Gouges
23 Degrees from Madame Germaine de Staël
23 Degrees from Victor François de Broglie
24 Degrees from Hans Axel von Fersen  (20th cousins, 9x removed)
27 Degrees from Claude Rouget de Lisle
33 Degrees from Georges Danton
34 Degrees from Marie Anne Charlotte de Corday
43 Degrees from Maximilien de Robespierre

Comments

I am 19 degress close to Marie-Antoinette

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removed

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Hey Mike, since we had the same two blood relatives (Marie-Antoinette and Hans Axel von Fersen), I decided to check our relationship. We are 20th cousins once removed.

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Based on statistics, the majority of profiles on here are likely actually at least 14-15th cousins [1]. Would be interesting to know what percentage of our shared, potential "graph" has been connected so far.

[1] https://ideas.4brad.com/everybody-your-16th-cousin

Answer 2

No one closer than François Christophe Kellermann and Olympe de Gouges, both at 20.

There are always surprises here.  My normally well-connected Moore ancestors, including the only clearly French ancestors I know of, barely figure in the connection paths.  However, I do have two distant cousins through my 3nd great grandmother Emiline Coutant, but through her Dutch ancestors, not the clearly French ones.

Answer 3

• 21 degrees from Marie-Antoinette (12th cousins, 9x removed)
• 21 degrees from Thérésia (Cabarrus) Tallien
• 21 degrees from Olympe de Gouges
• 23 degrees from Francois Kellermann
• 25 degrees from Madame Germaine de Staël
• 25 degree from Victor François de Broglie
• 27 degree from Hans Axel von Fersen  (20th cousins, 8x removed)
• 29 degrees from Claude Rouget de Lisle
• 33 degrees from Georges Danton
• 35 degrees from Marie Anne Charlotte de Corday

Answer 4

I am most closely connected to Marie-Antoinette at 26 degrees.

Answer 5

In theory, I'm 21 degrees connected to Marie-Antoinette; 10th cousins 8 times removed.

Answer 6

I'm only 12 degrees from Thérésia Cabarrus. I think it's my closest connection with a featured profile ever.

Answer 7

My closest connection is 19 degrees, to Teresa (Cabarrus) Tallien. The key link from my New England Yankee ancestors to her aristocratic French world turns out to be Clara Ward, who maps out as my 8th cousin 3x removed and who turns out (according to Wikipedia) to have been quite a scandalous character.

Answer 8

I am 10 degrees from Hans Axel von Fersen.  He is a first cousin, seven time removed.

Interestingly, given their claimed relationship, I am 11 degrees from Marie Antoinette.

Comments

Then that makes us 19th cousins.

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Chuckle.

Answer 9

43 degrees from Maximilien de Robespierre

20 degrees from Marie-Antoinette d'Autriche- 7th cousins 9x removed

25 degrees from Victor François de Broglie

21 degrees from Thérésia Tallien

35 degrees from Marie Corday

31 degrees from Georges Danton

25 degrees from Axel von Fersen

17 degrees from Olympe de Gouges

20 degrees from François Christophe Kellermann

30 degrees from Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle

24 degrees from Germaine de Staël

Answer 10

I am Hans Axel von Fersen's 20th cousin, 8 times removed and Marie Antionette's 14th cousin 7 times removed.
Edward Plantagenet is Marie's 13th ggrandfather and my 20th ggrandfather.

My closest connection is Pam Smith at 18 degrees.

Answer 11

My closest connection is 18 degrees from Marie Antoinette.

She is also my 13th cousin 7x  Removed.

Every other connection was greater than 18 degrees and for most of them I had no biological relationship at all.

Comments

That makes us 19th cousins!

Answer 12

My closest two are Axel von Fersen and Marie Antoinette at 22 degrees each.

Comments

And we have a "telephone pole connection" alert on Robespierre (he was hard to connect, and I haven't checked since if there was a way to shorten it - there must be). Not as far as Alfred Cralle last week, but far.

(and I meant shorten the connection, not Robespierre - not a very nice pun).

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Guillotin not included.

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He's probably very happy we forgot him this time . He hated being associated to the "guillotine".

Answer 13

Marie Antoinette = 11th cousin (8x removed).
19 degrees from Thérésia Cabarrus Tallien, whom I'd never heard of - but seems to have been a very interesting person. Thanks for this!

Answer 14

I am most closely connected to Marie-Antoinette d'Autriche and Olympe de Gouges

• 21 degrees from Marie-Antoinette d'Autriche
• 21 degrees from Olympe de Gouges
• 22 degrees from Thérésia Tallien
• 24 degrees from François Christophe Kellermann
• 26 degrees from Germaine de Staël
• 27 degrees from Victor François de Broglie
• 29 degrees from Axel von Fersen
• 30 degrees from Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle
• 34 degrees from Georges Danton
• 35 degrees from Marie Corday
• 48 degrees from Maximilien de Robespierre

Answer 15

Marie-Antoinette and I are 14th cousins 10x removed 

Axel and I are 19th cousins 11x removed

I'm connected to the others by varying degrees, but no closer than François Christophe Kellermann (18 degrees)

Answer 16

Olympe de Gouges is closest at 18 degrees .   Next is Marie Antoinette 19 degrees and my 10th cousin 5x removed.   Related 3 ways, Calder and Campbell of Cawdor and Adams.

Answer 17

My closest relationship is to Thérésia Tallien, whom I had never heard of before this week! She seemed like a very interesting lady. We're 23 degrees from each other. It's actually not that surprising she's the closest, since her family was based around Bordeaux and I just completed a connection between myself and aristocracy from that area recently.

Other than that, I'm:

28 degrees from Victor François de Broglie

29 degrees from Germaine de Staël 

31 degrees from Marie-Antoinette d'Autriche

32 degrees from François Christophe Kellermann

33 degrees from Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle (whom I helped to connect to the global tree and I'm very proud of it haha)

35 degrees from Olympe de Gouges

36 degrees from Axel von Fersen

40 degrees from Georges Danton

45 degrees from Marie Corday

52 degrees from Maximilien de Robespierre

No blood relations, as I have not gone back far enough through my direct ancestors yet.

Vive la France !

Answer 18

• 51 degrees from Maximilien de Robespierre
• 27 degrees from Marie-Antoinette d'Autriche
• 32 degrees from Victor François de Broglie
• 30 degrees from Thérésia Tallien
• 42 degrees from Marie Corday
• 40 degrees from Georges Danton
• 32 degrees from Axel von Fersen
• 28 degrees from Olympe de Gouges
• 31 degrees from François Christophe Kellermann
• 37 degrees from Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle
• 32 degrees from Germaine de Staël

Robespierre is one of my most distant connections.

Comments

Robespierre seems pretty distant to everyone in the replies, maybe we should continue working on his connections to the global tree!

Answer 19

The relationship finder never ceases to bring new surprises.

Marie-Antoinette is a 10th Cousin, 6 times removed and Hans Axel von Fersen her supposed love interest (20th cousin, 6 times removed). A nasty way to die.

Comments

That makes us 11th cousins. lol

Answer 20

Marie-Antoinette is my 12th cousin 8 times removed  and Axel von Fersen is my 20th cousin 10 times removed.