Louis XVI

King

Birthday August 23, 1754

Birth Sign Virgo

Birthplace Versailles, France

DEATH DATE Jan 21, 1793 (38)

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About

Late 18th-century French monarch who died at the guillotine during the French Revolution. He supported North American colonists with his 1783 Treaty of Paris, and wished them to free themselves from Great Britain. 

Before Fame

He became the French Dauphin at age eleven, upon the death of his father from tuberculosis. He became King of France when he was just twenty years old and was ill-prepared for the position.

Trivia

He was the only French King in history to be executed, and his death ended monarchial rule in France.

Family Life

He was the grandson of King Louis XV of France, and he married his cousin, Marie Antoinette (the daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor and Empress). He and Marie Antoinette became parents to two daughters and two sons between 1778 and 1786.

Associated With

He was portrayed by actor Robert Morley in the 1938 film, Marie Antoinette.