- Paul-Armand Challemel-Lacour
Paul-Armand Challemel-Lacour (
May 19 ,1827 -October 26 ,1896 ) was a French statesman.Biography
He was born in
Avranches in theManche "département" of northwesternFrance . After passing through theÉcole Normale Supérieure he became professor ofphilosophy successively at Pau and atLimoges . The "coup d'état " of 1851 by Napoleon III caused his expulsion from France for his republican opinions. He travelled on the continent, gave conferences inBelgium and in 1856 settled down as professor of French literature at theFederal Polytechnic Institute Zurich , today theETH Zurich . The amnesty of 1859 enabled him to return to France, but a projected course of lectures on history and art was immediately suppressed. He now supported himself by his pen, and became a regular contributor to the reviews.On the fall of the
Second French Empire in September 1870 the government of national defence appointed him prefect of the Rhône "département", in which capacity he had to suppress theCommunist rising atLyon . Resigning his post on theFebruary 5 1871 , he was in January 1872 elected to the National Assembly, and in 1876 to the Senate. He sat at first on the Extreme Left; but his philosophic and critical temperament was not in harmony with the recklessness of French radicalism, and his attitude towards political questions underwent a steady modification, till the close of his life saw him the foremost representative of moderate republicanism.During
Léon Gambetta 's lifetime, however, Challemel-Lacour was one of his warmest supporters, and he was for a time editor of Gambetta's organ, the "République française ". In 1879 he was appointed French ambassador atBern , and in 1880 was transferred toLondon ; but he lacked the temperament of a successful diplomat. He resigned in 1882, and in February 1883 became minister of foreign affairs in theJules Ferry cabinet, but retired in November of the same year.In 1890 he was elected vice-president of the Senate, and in 1893 succeeded Jules Ferry as its president, a position he held from
March 27 , 1893 toJanuary 16 , 1896. His clear and reasoned eloquence placed him at the head of contemporary French orators. In 1893 he also became a member of theAcadémie française . He distinguished himself by the vigour with which he upheld the Senate against the encroachments of the chamber, but in 1896 failing health forced him to resign, and he died in Paris.Works
He published a translation of A Heinrich Ritter's "Geschichte der Philosophie" (1861); "La Philosophie individualiste: étude sur Guillaume de Humboldt" (1864); and an edition of the works of Madame d'Epinay (1869).
In 1897 appeared
Joseph Reinach 's edition of the "Œuvres oratoires de Challemel-Lacour".References
*1911
Persondata
NAME= Challemel-Lacour, Paul-Armand
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=French statesman
DATE OF BIRTH=1827-05-19
PLACE OF BIRTH=Avranches ,France
DATE OF DEATH=1896-10-26
PLACE OF DEATH=Paris ,France
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