Jules Simon
Jules Simon | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Prime Minister of France | |
| In office 12 December 1876 – 17 May 1877 | |
| President | Patrice de MacMahon |
| Preceded by | Jules Dufaure |
| Succeeded by | Albert, duc de Broglie |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 31 December 1814 Lorient |
| Died | 8 June 1896(aged 81) Paris |
| Political party | Moderate Republican(1848–1871) Opportunist Republican(1871–1896) |
| Signature |  |
Jules François Simon(French pronunciation:[ʒylsimɔ̃];31 December 1814[1]– 8 June 1896) was a French statesman and philosopher, and one of the leaders of theModerate Republicansin theThird French Republic.
Biography[edit]
Simon was born atLorient.His father was a linen-draper fromLorraine,who renounced Protestantism before his second marriage with a CatholicBreton.Jules Simon was the son of this second marriage. The family name was Suisse, which Simon dropped in favour of his third forename. By considerable sacrifice he was enabled to attend a seminary atVannes,and worked briefly as usher in a school before, in 1833, he became a student at theÉcole Normale SupérieureinParis.There he came in contact withVictor Cousin,who sent him toCaenand then toVersaillesto teach philosophy. He helped Cousin, without receiving any recognition, in his translations fromPlatoandAristotle,and in 1839 became his deputy in the chair of philosophy at theUniversity of Paris,with the meagre salary of 83 francs per month. He also lectured on thehistory of philosophyat theÉcole Normale Supérieure.
At this period he edited the works ofNicolas Malebranche(2 vols, 1842), ofRené Descartes(1842),Bossuet(1842) and ofAntoine Arnauld(1843), and in 1844–1845 appeared the two volumes of hisHistoire de l'école d'Alexandrie.He became a regular contributor to theRevue des deux mondes,and in 1847, withAmédée JacquesandÉmile Saisset,founded theLiberté de penser,with the intention of throwing off the yoke of Cousin, but he retired when Jacques allowed the insertion of an article advocating the principles of collectivism, with which he was at no time in sympathy.
Political career from 1848 to 1871[edit]
In 1848 he represented the Côtes-du-Nord in the National Assembly, and next year entered theCouncil of State,but was retired on account of his republican opinions. His refusal to take the oath of allegiance to the government ofLouis Napoleonafter thecoup d'étatwas followed by his dismissal from his professorship, and he devoted himself to philosophical and political writings of a popular order.Le Devoir(1853), which was translated into modern Greek and Swedish, was followed byLa Religion naturelle(1856, Eng. trans., 1887),La Liberté de conscience(1857),La Liberté politique(1859),La Liberté civile(1859),L'Ouvrière(1861),L'Ecole(1864),Le Travail(1866),L'Ouvrier de huit ans(1867) and others.
In 1863 he was returned to theCorps Législatiffor the 8th circonscription of theSeinedépartement,and supported "les Cinq" (Darimon,Favre,Hénon,OllivierandPicard) in their opposition to the government. He became minister of instruction in theGovernment of National Defenseon 5 September 1870. After the capitulation of Paris in January 1871 he was sent down toBordeauxto prevent the resistance ofLéon Gambettato the peace. But at Bordeaux, Gambetta, who had issued a proclamation excluding from the elections those who had been officials under the Empire, was all-powerful. Pretending to dispute Jules Simon's credentials, he issued orders for his arrest. Meanwhile, Simon had found means of communication with Paris, and on 6 February was reinforced byEugène Pelletan,E. AragoandGarnier-Pages.Gambetta resigned, and the ministry of the Interior, though nominally given to Arago, was really in Simon's hands.
Third Republic[edit]
Defeated in the département of the Seine, he sat for theMarnein the National Assembly, and resumed the portfolio of Education in the first cabinet ofAdolphe Thiers's presidency. He advocated free primary education yet sought to conciliate the clergy by all the means in his power; but no concessions removed the hostility ofDupanloup,who presided over the commission appointed to consider his draft of an elementary education bill. The reforms he was actually able to carry out were concerned with secondary education. He encouraged the study of living languages, and limited the attention given to the making ofLatinverse; he also encouraged independent methods at the École Normale, and set up a school at Rome where members of the French school ofAthensshould spend some time.
He retained office until a week before the fall of Thiers in 1873. He was regarded by the monarchical right as one of the most dangerous obstacles in the way of a restoration, which he did as much as any man (except perhaps thecomte de Chambordhimself) to prevent, but by the extreme left he was distrusted for his moderate views, and Gambetta never forgave his victory at Bordeaux. In 1875, he became a member of theAcadémie Françaiseand alife senator,and in 1876, on the resignation ofJules Dufaure,was summoned to form a cabinet. He replaced anti-republican functionaries in the civil service by republicans, and held his own until 3 May 1877, when he adopted a motion carried by a large majority in the Chamber inviting the cabinet to use all means for the repression of clerical agitation.
His clerical enemies then inducedMarshal MacMahonto take advantage of a vote on the press law carried in Jules Simon's absence from the Chamber to write him a letter regretting that he no longer preserved his influence in the Chamber, and thus practically demanding his resignation. His resignation in response to this act of the president, known as the "Seize Mai",which he might have resisted by an appeal to the Chamber, proved his ruin, and he never again held office. He justified his action by his fear of providing an opportunity for acoup d'étaton the part of the Marshal. However, the May 1877 crisis eventually ended in MacMahon's demise and in the victory of the Republicans over the monarchistOrleanistsandLegitimists.
The rejection (1880) of article 7 ofFerry's Education Act,by which the profession of teaching would have been forbidden to members of non-authorized congregations, was due to his intervention. He was in fact one of the chief of the left centreOpportunist Republicansfaction, opposed in the same faction toJules Grévyand also to theRadicalGambetta. He was director ofLe Gauloisfrom 1879 to 1881, and his influence in the country among moderate republicans was retained by his articles inLe Matinfrom 1882 onwards, in theJournal des Débats,which he joined in 1886, and inLe Tempsfrom 1890.
Works[edit]
His own accounts of some of the events in which he had been involved appear inSouvenirs du 4 septembre(1874),Le Gouvernement de M. Thiers(2 vols., 1878), inMémoires des autres(1889),Nouveaux mémoires des autres(1891) andLes Derniers mémoires des autres(1897), while his sketch of Victor Cousin (1887) was a further contribution to contemporary history. For his personal history, thePremiers mémoires(1900) andLe Soir de ma journée(1902), edited by his son Gustave Simon, may be supplemented byLéon Séché'sFigures bretonnes, Jules Simon, sa vie, son œuvre(new ed., 1898), andGeorges Picot,Jules Simon: notice historique(1897); also by many references to periodical literature and collected essays inHugo Paul Thieme'sGuide bibliographique de la littérature française de 1800 à 1906(1907).
Simon's Ministry, 12 December 1876 – 17 May 1877[edit]
- Jules Simon –President of the CouncilandMinister of the Interior
- Louis Decazes–Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Jean Auguste Berthaud–Minister of War
- Léon Say–Minister of Finance
- Louis Martel–Minister of Justiceand Worship
- Martin Fourichon–Minister of Marine and Colonies
- William Henry Waddington–Minister of Public Instruction
- Albert Christophle– Minister of Public Works
- Pierre Teisserenc de Bort– Minister of Agriculture and Commerce
References[edit]
- ^"Jules Simon".1 December 2009.Retrieved1 December2009.
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911). "Simon, Jules François".Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 25 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 125.
External links[edit]
- Works by Jules SimonatLibriVox(public domain audiobooks)
