Alfred Léon Gérault, known as Gérault-Richard (1860-1911), was a French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 journalist and socialist

Socialism

Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...

 politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

, born at Bonnétable

Bonnétable

Bonnétable is a commune in the Sarthe department in the region of Pays-de-la-Loire in north-western France.Bonnétable is twinned with Horncastle in rural Lincolnshire. The towns' relationship is commemorated by a Rue Horncastle in Bonnétable, and a Bonnetable Road in Horncastle.-References:*...

 (in the départment of Sarthe

Sarthe

Sarthe is a French department, named after the Sarthe River.- History :The department was created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790, pursuant to the law of December 22, 1789, starting from a part of the province of Maine which was divided into two departments, Sarthe to the east and...

) of a peasant family.

He began life as a working upholsterer, first at Le Mans

Le Mans

Le Mans is a city in France, located on the Sarthe River. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Mans. Le Mans is a part of the Pays de la Loire region.Its inhabitants are called Manceaux...

, then at Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 (1880), where his peasant and socialist songs soon won him fame in the Montmartre quarter

Montmartre

Montmartre is a hill which is 130 metres high, giving its name to the surrounding district, in the north of Paris in the 18th arrondissement, a part of the Right Bank. Montmartre is primarily known for the white-domed Basilica of the Sacré Cœur on its summit and as a nightclub district...

. Prosper-Olivier Lissagaray, the communard, offered him a position on La Bataille

La Bataille

La Bataille is a commune in the Deux-Sèvres department in the Poitou-Charentes region in western France.-References:*...

, and he became a regular contributor to the progressive

Progressivism

Progressivism is an umbrella term for a political ideology advocating or favoring social, political, and economic reform or changes. Progressivism is often viewed by some conservatives, constitutionalists, and libertarians to be in opposition to conservative or reactionary ideologies.The...

 journals, especially to La Petite République, of which he became editor-in-chief in 1897.

In 1893 he founded Le Chambard, and was imprisoned for a year (1894) on account of a personal attack upon the president, Jean Casimir-Perier

Jean Casimir-Perier

Jean Paul Pierre Casimir-Perier was a French politician, fifth president of the French Third Republic.-Biography:He was born in Paris, the son of Auguste Casimir-Perier and the grandson of Casimir Pierre Perier, premier of Louis Philippe...

. In January 1895 he was elected to the Chamber of Deputies

Chamber of Deputies

Chamber of deputies is the name given to a legislative body such as the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or can refer to a unicameral legislature.-Description:...

 as a member of the Socialist Party

Socialist Party (France)

The Socialist Party is a social-democratic political party in France and the largest party of the French centre-left. It is one of the two major contemporary political parties in France, along with the center-right Union for a Popular Movement...

 for the XIIIth arrondissement

XIIIe arrondissement

The 13th arrondissement of Paris is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France....

 of Paris. Gérault-Richard was defeated at the elections of 1898 at Paris, but was twice re-elected (1902-1906 and in 1906-1911) by the colony

French colonial empires

The French colonial empire was the set of territories outside Europe that were under French rule primarily from the 17th century to the late 1960s. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the colonial empire of France was the second-largest in the world behind the British Empire. The French colonial empire...

 of Guadeloupe

Guadeloupe

Guadeloupe is an archipelago located in the Leeward Islands, in the Lesser Antilles, with a land area of 1,628 square kilometres and a population of 400,000. It is the first overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. As with the other overseas departments, Guadeloupe...

. He died in Fréjus

Fréjus

Fréjus is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France.It neighbours Saint-Raphaël, effectively forming one town...

.