Ernest Picard

1871 engraving of Ernest Picard, member of the government and the national defense of Paris

Caricature of Ernest Picard

Louis Joseph Ernest Picard(24 December 1821 – 13 May 1877) was a Frenchpolitician.

Life

Louis Joseph Ernest Picard was born inParis.After taking his doctorate inlawin 1846 he joined the Parisian bar. Elected to thecorps législatifin 1858, he became a follower ofÉmile Ollivier. As Ollivier moved towards the government standpoint, Picard, one of the members of the group known asLes Cinq,veered more to theleft.

In the 1860s Picard was an active member of theConférence Molé,as wereLéon Gambetta,Clément Laurier and Léon Renault. At that time the Molé met in theCafé Procopein the Rue de l'Ancienne-Comédie, the oldest coffee house in Paris.

In 1868 he founded a weekly democratic journal,L'Electeur libre,and in 1869 was elected both forHéraultand Paris, electing to sit for the former. From 4 September 1870 he held the portfolio of finance in the government of National Defence. In January 1871 he accompaniedJules FavretoVersaillesto arrange the capitulation of Paris, and the next month he became minister of the interior inAdolphe Thiers's cabinet.

Attacked both by the monarchist and the republican press, he resigned in May. Later in the year he was sent as ambassador toBrussels,where he remained for two years. On his return to Paris he resumed his seat in the Left centre, and in 1875 becamelife senator.He died in Paris.

Sources

• Fraser's Magazine (1881),"Léon Michael Gambetta",The Eclectic Magazine of Foreign Literature, Science, and Art,Leavitt, Trow, & Company

• This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911). "Picard, Louis Joseph Ernest".Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 21 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.