Jules Grévy | |
|---|---|
(3).jpg) Grévyc. 1880 | |
| 4thPresident of France | |
| In office 30 January 1879 – 2 December 1887 | |
| Prime Minister | |
| Preceded by | Patrice de MacMahon |
| Succeeded by | Sadi Carnot |
| President of the Chamber of Deputies | |
| In office 13 March 1876 – 30 January 1879[1] | |
| Preceded by | Gaston d'Audiffret-Pasquier |
| Succeeded by | Léon Gambetta |
| President of the National Assembly | |
| In office 16 February 1871 – 2 April 1873 | |
| Preceded by | Eugène Schneider |
| Succeeded by | Louis Buffet |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 15 August 1807 Mont-sous-Vaudrey, France |
| Died | 9 September 1891(1891-09-09) (aged 84) Mont-sous-Vaudrey, France |
| Political party | Moderate Republicans |
| Spouse | Coralie Grévy |
| Relatives | Albert Grévy (brother) |
| Alma mater | University of Paris |
| Signature |  |
François Judith Paul Grévy (15 August 1807 – 9 September 1891), known asJules Grévy (French:[ʒylɡʁevi]), was aFrench lawyer and politician who served asPresident of France from 1879 to 1887. He was a leader of theModerate Republicans, and given that his predecessors weremonarchists who tried without success to restore the French monarchy, Grévy is considered the first realrepublican president of France.[2][3] During Grévy's presidency from 1879 to 1887, according to David Bell, there was a disunity among his cabinets. Only one survived more than a year. Grévy paid attention chiefly to defense, internal order, and foreign relations. Critics argue that Grévy's confusing approach to appointments set a bad precedent for handling crises.
Born in a small town in theJura department, Grévy moved to Paris where he initially followed a career in law before becoming a republican activist. He began his political career after theFrench Revolution of 1848, as a member of theNational Assembly of theFrench Second Republic, where he became known for his opposition toLouis-Napoléon Bonaparte and as a supporter of lesser authority for theexecutive branch. During the1851 coup d'état by Louis-Napoléon he was briefly imprisoned, and afterwards retired from political life.
With the downfall of theSecond French Empire and the reestablishment of the Republic in 1870, Grévy returned to prominence in national politics. After occupying high offices in the National Assembly and theChamber of Deputies, he was elected president of France in 1879. During his presidency Grévy confirmed his longtime stance by diminishing his own executive authority in favor of theParliament, and in foreign policy strove for peaceful relations and opposedcolonialism.[4] He was reelected in 1885, but two years later Grévy's son-in-law was implicated in a corruption scandal and Grévy had to resign after exhausting the pool of willing politicians to form a fresh government.[5] His nearly nine years as president of France are seen as the consolidation of theFrench Third Republic.[4]
Grévy was born on 15 August 1807 inMont-sous-Vaudrey, in thedepartment ofJura, into a republican family.[6] His paternal grandfather, Nicolas Grévy (1736–1812), the son of farmers fromAumont, moved to Mont-sous-Vaudrey during theFrench Revolution, where he bought the property ofla Grangerie. He was ajustice of the peace.[7] Grévy's parents were François Hyacinthe Grevy (1773–1857) and Jeanne Gabrielle Planet (1782–1855).[7] His father, who had joined theFrench Revolutionary Army as a volunteer in 1792, rose to become a battalion commander and fought in theRevolutionary Wars until retiring to Mont-sous-Vaudrey under theConsulate.[8] He operated a tile factory on his property.[9]
At age 10, Grévy started attending school at the nearby town ofPoligny, and continued his studies inBesançon,Dole, and finally at theFaculty of Law of Paris. He became a lawyer at the Parisbar in 1837,[8] distinguishing himself at theConférence du barreau de Paris. Having steadily maintained republican principles under theJuly Monarchy, he started his political activity as a defense attorney in the trial of Philippet and Quignot, two accomplies ofArmand Barbès in a failed republican insurrection on 12 May 1839.[8]
In 1848, arevolution in France abolished the July Monarchy and led to the creation of theSecond Republic, and with it Grévy was appointed Commissioner of the Republic for the department of Jura.[10] In April 1848 he waselected by that department for a seat in theconstituentNational Assembly. On the signed declaration for his candidacy, Grévy demanded a "strong and liberal Republic, that makes itself loved for its wisdom and moderation".[8] Foreseeing the rise ofLouis-Napoléon Bonaparte in that year'spresidential election he began to advocate a weakexecutive branch,[4] and became famous during the debates on the drafting of theConstitution for his opposition to electing the president byuniversal suffrage, instead proposing that the executive power should be vested on a "President of the Council of Ministers", who would be appointed and dismissed by the directly elected National Assembly.[8] The "Grévy Amendment", as it became known, was rejected,[10] and in December 1848 Bonaparte was elected president of France.
Grévy was elected vice-president of the National Assembly in April 1849.[10] The same month he protested against the president's decision to launch an expedition against the revolutionaryRoman Republic, created as part of theFirst Italian War of Independence,[11] but the invasion proceeded and succeeded in restoringPapal rule. In 1851, his fear that Louis-Napoléon intended to perpetuate himself in power was proven true, when the president seized dictatorial power with acoup d'état on 2 December, in which Grévy was arrested and imprisoned inMazas Prison. He was released shortly after but retired from politics in the subsequentFrench Empire, under now emperor Napoleon III, and returned to his law practice.[10]
Grévy resumed his political career in the last years of the Empire. In 1868 he was elected to theCorps législatif, where he quickly emerged as a leader of the liberal opposition. Along withAdolphe Thiers andLéon Gambetta he opposed the declaration of theFranco-Prussian War, in 1870, and condemned the socialist insurrection of theParis Commune. Upon the death of Thiers years later, in 1877, Grévy would become the head of the Republican Party.[10]
After the collapse of the Empire in the Franco-Prussian War, Grévy waselected as representative of Jura andBouches-du-Rhône to the National Assembly of the newThird Republic, in 1871.[11] He served as president of the Assembly from February 1871 to April 1873,[10] when he resigned on account of the opposition from the Right, which blamed him for having called one of its members to order in the session of the previous day. On 8 March 1876 Grévy was named president of theChamber of Deputies, a post which he filled with such efficiency that upon the resignation ofLegitimist presidentMarshal de MacMahon he seemed to step naturally into the Presidency of the Republic, and on 30 January 1879 was elected without opposition by the republican parties.[12]
Throughout his presidency, Grévy sought to minimize his powers and instead favored a strong legislature.[4] On 6 February 1879, shortly after taking office, he made a speech before the Chambers where he explained his vision of the role of President: "Subject with sincerity to the great law of the parliamentary regime, I will never enter into battle against national wishes expressed by its institutional bodies". This interpretation of the office's limited power influenced most of the later presidents of the Third Republic.[10]
In foreign policy he strove for peaceful relations, particularly with theGerman Empire, resistingrevanchist demands for a retribution over the disastrous defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, and opposedcolonial expansion.[4] Among internal policies his presidency was marked byanti-clerical reforms, particularly under the government of prime ministerCharles de Freycinet.[10] In 1880, he passed anamnesty law in favor of thecommunards.[6]
On 28 December 1885, Grévy was elected for another seven years as president of the Republic. Two years later however, in December 1887, he was compelled to resign due to apolitical scandal that started after his son-in-law, Daniel Wilson, was found to be selling awards of theLegion of Honour. Although Grévy himself was not implicated in the scheme, he was indirectly responsible for the misuse Wilson had made of the access to theÉlysée.[13] Under pressure from the Chamber of Deputies and theSenate, Grévy resigned on 2 December and addressed a last message to the two chambers, in which he stated "my duty and my right would be to resist, wisdom and patriotism command me to yield".[8] This political matter was the first to feedanti-Masonic opinion in France.[14]
Grévy wrote a two-volumeDiscours politiques et judiciaires ("Political and Judicial Speeches") in 1888.[4]
Grévy married in 1848 toCoralie Frassie, the daughter of atanner fromNarbonne.[10] They had one daughter, Alice (1849–1938), who married Daniel Wilson in 1881.[15]
He died in his hometown of Mont-sous-Vaudrey on 9 September 1891, following apulmonary edema. Hisstate funeral was held on 14 September.
Initiated at themasonic lodge "La Constante Amitié" inArras,[16] his masonic activity was inseparable from his policies,[14] especially in the ensuing struggle forseparation of church and state that marked the beginning of the Third Republic and MacMahon's resignation.
In private life, Grévy was an ardentbilliards player, and was featured as one in a portrait published in theVanity Fair magazine in 1879.
He is referred to as one of Swann's dinner hosts inProust'sIn Search of Lost Time.[17]
There is a type oflilac,Syringa vulgaris 'President Grévy', named after him.[18]
Grévy's zebra is named after him.
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One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Grèvy, François Paul Jules".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 12 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 585.| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | President of the National Assembly 1876–1879 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | President of the Chamber of Deputies 1879–1887 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | President of France 1879–1887 | Succeeded by |
| Regnal titles | ||
| Preceded by | Co-Prince of Andorra 1879–1887 Served alongside: Salvador Casañas y Pagés | Succeeded by |
