List of Presidents of the French Senate
Encyclopedia
The French Senate
is the Upper House of the French Parliament. It is presided over by a President. Although there had been Senates in both the First
and Second
Empires, these had not technically been legislative bodies, but rather advisory bodies on the model of the Roman Senate
. France's first experience with an upper house was under the Directory
from 1795 to 1799, when the Council of Ancients
was the upper chamber. With the Restoration
in 1814, a new Chamber of Peers was created, on the model of the British House of Lords
. At first it contained hereditary peers, but following the July Revolution
of 1830, it became a body to which one was appointed for life. The Second Republic
returned to a unicameral system after 1848, but soon after the establishment of the Second French Empire
in 1852, a Senate was established as the upper chamber. In the Fourth Republic
, the Senate was renamed the Council of the Republic, but its function was largely the same. With the new constitution of the Fifth Republic
in 1959, the older name of Senate was restored.
The President of the Senate, in addition to his duties as presiding officer of the Upper House of parliament, is also, according to the constitution of the Fifth Republic, first in line of succession in case of death or resignation of the president, thus becoming Acting President of the Republic until a new election can be held. This has already occurred twice. Alain Poher
, the President of the French Senate, served as Acting President of France from 28 April until 20 June 1969 (between the resignation of President Charles de Gaulle
and the installation of his elected successor President Georges Pompidou
) and again from 3 April until 27 May 1974 (between the death of President Georges Pompidou
and the installation of his elected successor President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
).
! width=257|Name
! width=120|Took office
! width=120|Left office
! Political Party
|-
Jérôme Bonaparte
28 January 1852 30 November 1852 Bonapartist
Raymond-Theodore Troplong 30 December 1852 1 March 1869 Bonapartist
Adrien Marie Devienne 3 March 1869 20 July 1869 Bonapartist
Eugene Rouher
20 July 1869 4 September 1870 Bonapartist
No Senate 1870 1876
Gaston Audiffret-Pasquier 13 March 1876 15 January 1879 Conservative
Louis Martel 15 January 1879 25 May 1880 Conservative
Léon Say
25 May 1880 2 February 1882 Republican
Philippe Le Royer 2 February 1882 24 February 1893 Republican
Jules Ferry
24 February 1893 17 March 1893 Left Republican
Paul-Armand Challemel-Lacour
27 March 1893 16 January 1896 Opportunist Republican
Émile Loubet
16 January 1896 18 February 1899 Left Republican
Armand Fallières
3 March 1899 17 January 1906 Democratic Republican Alliance
Antonin Dubost
16 February 1906 14 January 1920 Democratic Republican Alliance
Léon Bourgeois
14 January 1920 22 February 1923 Radical
Gaston Doumergue
22 February 1923 13 June 1924 Radical
Justin de Selves
19 June 1924 9 January 1927 Radical
Paul Doumer
14 January 1927 13 May 1931 Radical
Albert Lebrun
11 June 1931 10 May 1932 Democratic Alliance
Jules Jeanneney
3 June 1932 9 July 1940 Radical
Fourth Republic
{|class="wikitable"
|-
! colspan=2 width=50|Portrait
! width=170|Name
! width=120|Took office
! width=120|Left office
! width=120|Political Party
|-
! style="background:;"| 1
| || Auguste Champetier de Ribes
|| 27 December 1946 || 6 March 1947 || MRP
|-
! style="background:;"| 2
| || Gaston Monnerville
|| 18 March 1947 || 4 October 1958 || Radical
|}
Fifth Republic
{|class="wikitable"
|-
! colspan=2 width=50|Portrait
! width=170|Name
! width=120|Took office
! width=120|Left office
! width=120|Political Party
|-
! style="background:;"| 1
| || Gaston Monnerville
|| 4 October 1958 || 2 October 1968 || Radical
|-
! style="background:;"| 2
|
|| Alain Poher
|| 2 October 1968 || 2 October 1992 || CD
(until 1976)
CDS (from 1976)
(within UDF
from 1978)
|-
! style="background:;"| 3
|
|| René Monory
|| 2 October 1992 || 1 October 1998 || CDS (until 1995)
FD
(from 1995)
(within UDF
)
|-
! style="background:; color:white;"| 4
|
|| Christian Poncelet
|| 1 October 1998 || 1 October 2008 || RPR
(until 2002)
UMP
(from 2002)
|-
! style="background:; color:white;"| 5
| || Gérard Larcher
|| 1 October 2008 || 1 October 2011 || UMP
|-
! style="background:; color:white;"| 6
| || Jean-Pierre Bel
|| 1 October 2011 || Incumbent || PS
|}
French Senate
The Senate is the upper house of the Parliament of France, presided over by a president.The Senate enjoys less prominence than the lower house, the directly elected National Assembly; debates in the Senate tend to be less tense and generally enjoy less media coverage.-History:France's first...
is the Upper House of the French Parliament. It is presided over by a President. Although there had been Senates in both the First
First French Empire
The First French Empire , also known as the Greater French Empire or Napoleonic Empire, was the empire of Napoleon I of France...
and Second
Second French Empire
The Second French Empire or French Empire was the Imperial Bonapartist regime of Napoleon III from 1852 to 1870, between the Second Republic and the Third Republic, in France.-Rule of Napoleon III:...
Empires, these had not technically been legislative bodies, but rather advisory bodies on the model of the Roman Senate
Roman Senate
The Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic, however, it was not an elected body, but one whose members were appointed by the consuls, and later by the censors. After a magistrate served his term in office, it usually was followed with automatic...
. France's first experience with an upper house was under the Directory
French Directory
The Directory was a body of five Directors that held executive power in France following the Convention and preceding the Consulate...
from 1795 to 1799, when the Council of Ancients
Council of Ancients
The Council of Ancients or Council of Elders was the upper house of the Directory , the legislature of France from 22 August 1795 until 9 November 1799, roughly the second half of the period generally referred to as the French Revolution.The Council of Ancients was the senior of the two halves of...
was the upper chamber. With the Restoration
Bourbon Restoration
The Bourbon Restoration is the name given to the period following the successive events of the French Revolution , the end of the First Republic , and then the forcible end of the First French Empire under Napoleon – when a coalition of European powers restored by arms the monarchy to the...
in 1814, a new Chamber of Peers was created, on the model of the British House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
. At first it contained hereditary peers, but following the July Revolution
July Revolution
The French Revolution of 1830, also known as the July Revolution or in French, saw the overthrow of King Charles X of France, the French Bourbon monarch, and the ascent of his cousin Louis-Philippe, Duke of Orléans, who himself, after 18 precarious years on the throne, would in turn be overthrown...
of 1830, it became a body to which one was appointed for life. The Second Republic
French Second Republic
The French Second Republic was the republican government of France between the 1848 Revolution and the coup by Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte which initiated the Second Empire. It officially adopted the motto Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité...
returned to a unicameral system after 1848, but soon after the establishment of the Second French Empire
Second French Empire
The Second French Empire or French Empire was the Imperial Bonapartist regime of Napoleon III from 1852 to 1870, between the Second Republic and the Third Republic, in France.-Rule of Napoleon III:...
in 1852, a Senate was established as the upper chamber. In the Fourth Republic
French Fourth Republic
The French Fourth Republic was the republican government of France between 1946 and 1958, governed by the fourth republican constitution. It was in many ways a revival of the Third Republic, which was in place before World War II, and suffered many of the same problems...
, the Senate was renamed the Council of the Republic, but its function was largely the same. With the new constitution of the Fifth Republic
French Fifth Republic
The Fifth Republic is the fifth and current republican constitution of France, introduced on 4 October 1958. The Fifth Republic emerged from the collapse of the French Fourth Republic, replacing the prior parliamentary government with a semi-presidential system...
in 1959, the older name of Senate was restored.
The President of the Senate, in addition to his duties as presiding officer of the Upper House of parliament, is also, according to the constitution of the Fifth Republic, first in line of succession in case of death or resignation of the president, thus becoming Acting President of the Republic until a new election can be held. This has already occurred twice. Alain Poher
Alain Poher
Alain Émile Louis Marie Poher was a French centrist politician, affiliated first with the Popular Republican Movement and later with the Democratic Centre. He served as a Senator for Val-de-Marne from 1946 to 1995. He was President of the Senate from 3 October 1968 to 1 October 1992 and, in that...
, the President of the French Senate, served as Acting President of France from 28 April until 20 June 1969 (between the resignation of President Charles de Gaulle
Charles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....
and the installation of his elected successor President Georges Pompidou
Georges Pompidou
Georges Jean Raymond Pompidou was a French politician. He was Prime Minister of France from 1962 to 1968, holding the longest tenure in this position, and later President of the French Republic from 1969 until his death in 1974.-Biography:...
) and again from 3 April until 27 May 1974 (between the death of President Georges Pompidou
Georges Pompidou
Georges Jean Raymond Pompidou was a French politician. He was Prime Minister of France from 1962 to 1968, holding the longest tenure in this position, and later President of the French Republic from 1969 until his death in 1974.-Biography:...
and the installation of his elected successor President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
Valéry Marie René Georges Giscard d'Estaing is a French centre-right politician who was President of the French Republic from 1974 until 1981...
).
Presidents of the Chamber of Peers, 1814–1848
| Name | Took office | Left office |
|---|---|---|
| Charles-Henri, chevalier Dambray | 4 June 1814 | 20 March 1815 |
| Jean-Jacques-Regis de Cambaceres | 2 June 1815 | 7 July 1815 |
| Charles-Henri, chevalier Dambray | 12 October 1815 | 12 December 1829 |
| Claude-Emmanuel, marquis de Pastoret | 17 December 1829 | 3 August 1830 |
| Étienne-Denis Pasquier Étienne-Denis Pasquier Étienne-Denis, duc de Pasquier , Chancelier de France, , was a French statesman... |
3 August 1830 | 24 February 1848 |
Presidents of the Senate, 1852–1940
{| class="wikitable"! width=257|Name
! width=120|Took office
! width=120|Left office
! Political Party
|-
Jérôme Bonaparte
Jérôme-Napoléon Bonaparte, French Prince, King of Westphalia, 1st Prince of Montfort was the youngest brother of Napoleon, who made him king of Westphalia...
Bonapartist
In French political history, Bonapartism has two meanings. In a strict sense, this term refers to people who aimed to restore the French Empire under the House of Bonaparte, the Corsican family of Napoleon Bonaparte and his nephew Louis...
Bonapartist
In French political history, Bonapartism has two meanings. In a strict sense, this term refers to people who aimed to restore the French Empire under the House of Bonaparte, the Corsican family of Napoleon Bonaparte and his nephew Louis...
Bonapartist
In French political history, Bonapartism has two meanings. In a strict sense, this term refers to people who aimed to restore the French Empire under the House of Bonaparte, the Corsican family of Napoleon Bonaparte and his nephew Louis...
Eugène Rouher
Eugène Rouher was a French statesman of the Second Empire.He was born at Riom , where he practised law after taking his degree in Paris in 1835. In 1846 he sought election to the Chamber of Deputies as an official candidate of the Guizot ministry...
Bonapartist
In French political history, Bonapartism has two meanings. In a strict sense, this term refers to people who aimed to restore the French Empire under the House of Bonaparte, the Corsican family of Napoleon Bonaparte and his nephew Louis...
Léon Say
Jean-Baptiste Léon Say , French statesman and economist, was born in Paris.-Biography:The family was a most remarkable one. His grandfather Jean-Baptiste Say was a well-known economist. His brother Louis Auguste Say , director of a sugar refinery at Nantes, wrote several books against his theories...
French Second Republic
The French Second Republic was the republican government of France between the 1848 Revolution and the coup by Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte which initiated the Second Empire. It officially adopted the motto Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité...
French Second Republic
The French Second Republic was the republican government of France between the 1848 Revolution and the coup by Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte which initiated the Second Empire. It officially adopted the motto Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité...
Jules Ferry
Jules François Camille Ferry was a French statesman and republican. He was a promoter of laicism and colonial expansion.- Early life :Born in Saint-Dié, in the Vosges département, France, he studied law, and was called to the bar at Paris in 1854, but soon went into politics, contributing to...
Democratic Republican Alliance
The Democratic Republican Alliance was a French political party created in 1901 by followers of Léon Gambetta, such as Raymond Poincaré who would be president of the Council in the 1920s...
Paul-Armand Challemel-Lacour
Paul-Armand Challemel-Lacour was a French statesman.-Biography:He was born in Avranches in the Manche département of northwestern France. After passing through the École Normale Supérieure he became professor of philosophy successively at Pau and at Limoges...
Émile Loubet
Émile François Loubet was a French politician and the 8th President of France.-Early life:He was born the son of a peasant proprietor and mayor of Marsanne . Admitted to the Parisian bar in 1862, he took his doctorate in law the next year...
Democratic Republican Alliance
The Democratic Republican Alliance was a French political party created in 1901 by followers of Léon Gambetta, such as Raymond Poincaré who would be president of the Council in the 1920s...
Armand Fallières
Clément Armand Fallières was a French politician, president of the French republic from 1906 to 1913.He was born at Mézin in the département of Lot-et-Garonne, France, where his father was clerk of the peace...
Democratic Republican Alliance
The Democratic Republican Alliance was a French political party created in 1901 by followers of Léon Gambetta, such as Raymond Poincaré who would be president of the Council in the 1920s...
Antonin Dubost
Antonin Dubost was a French journalist, State Councillor and Senator. He served as President of the French Senate from 1906 to 1920. He was a member of the Democratic Republican Alliance....
Democratic Republican Alliance
The Democratic Republican Alliance was a French political party created in 1901 by followers of Léon Gambetta, such as Raymond Poincaré who would be president of the Council in the 1920s...
Léon Bourgeois
-Biography:He was born in Paris, and was trained in law. After holding a subordinate office in the department of public works, he became successively prefect of the Tarn and the Haute-Garonne , and then returned to Paris to enter the ministry of the interior...
Gaston Doumergue
Pierre-Paul-Henri-Gaston Doumergue was a French politician of the Third Republic.Doumergue came from a Protestant family. Beginning as a Radical, he turned more towards the political right in his old age. He served as Prime Minister from 9 December 1913 to 2 June 1914...
Justin de Selves
Justin de Selves was a French politician....
Paul Doumer
Joseph Athanase Paul Doumer, commonly known as Paul Doumer was the President of France from 13 June 1931 until his assassination.-Biography:...
Albert Lebrun
Albert François Lebrun was a French politician, President of France from 1932 to 1940. He was the last president of the Third Republic. He was a member of the center-right Democratic Republican Alliance .-Biography:...
Democratic Republican Alliance
The Democratic Republican Alliance was a French political party created in 1901 by followers of Léon Gambetta, such as Raymond Poincaré who would be president of the Council in the 1920s...
Jules Jeanneney
Jules Émile Jeanneney was a French lawyer and politician.Jules Jeanneney was born in Besançon in the department of Doubs. His mother died soon after his birth, leaving his father, an auctioneer, to raise the child. Jeanneney said that he felt that his mother's death affected him greatly in later...
Fourth RepublicFrench Fourth RepublicThe French Fourth Republic was the republican government of France between 1946 and 1958, governed by the fourth republican constitution. It was in many ways a revival of the Third Republic, which was in place before World War II, and suffered many of the same problems...
: Presidents of the Council of the RepublicCouncil of the Republic of FranceThe Council of the Republic was the name of the upper house of the legislature of the French Fourth Republic . It was by replaced the Senate when the constitution of the French Fifth Republic came into force.-History:...
(1946–1958)
{|class="wikitable"|-
! colspan=2 width=50|Portrait
! width=170|Name
! width=120|Took office
! width=120|Left office
! width=120|Political Party
|-
! style="background:;"| 1
| || Auguste Champetier de Ribes
Auguste Champetier de Ribes
Auguste Champetier de Ribes was a French politician and jurist.A devout Catholic, he was an early follower of Albert de Mun and social Christianity. Wounded in the First World War, he was elected to the Chamber of Deputies from the Basses-Pyrénées as a Christian democrat from 1924 to 1934...
|| 27 December 1946 || 6 March 1947 || MRP
Popular Republican Movement
The Popular Republican Movement was a French Christian democratic party of the Fourth Republic...
|-
! style="background:;"| 2
| || Gaston Monnerville
Gaston Monnerville
Gaston Monnerville was a French politician and lawyer.The grandson of a slave, he grew up in French Guiana and went to Toulouse to complete his studies. A brilliant student, he became a lawyer in 1918 and worked with César Campinchi, a lawyer who later became an influential politician...
|| 18 March 1947 || 4 October 1958 || Radical
|}
Fifth RepublicFrench Fifth RepublicThe Fifth Republic is the fifth and current republican constitution of France, introduced on 4 October 1958. The Fifth Republic emerged from the collapse of the French Fourth Republic, replacing the prior parliamentary government with a semi-presidential system...
: Presidents of the Senate (1958–present)
{|class="wikitable"|-
! colspan=2 width=50|Portrait
! width=170|Name
! width=120|Took office
! width=120|Left office
! width=120|Political Party
|-
! style="background:;"| 1
| || Gaston Monnerville
Gaston Monnerville
Gaston Monnerville was a French politician and lawyer.The grandson of a slave, he grew up in French Guiana and went to Toulouse to complete his studies. A brilliant student, he became a lawyer in 1918 and worked with César Campinchi, a lawyer who later became an influential politician...
|| 4 October 1958 || 2 October 1968 || Radical
|-
! style="background:;"| 2
|
|| Alain PoherAlain Poher
Alain Émile Louis Marie Poher was a French centrist politician, affiliated first with the Popular Republican Movement and later with the Democratic Centre. He served as a Senator for Val-de-Marne from 1946 to 1995. He was President of the Senate from 3 October 1968 to 1 October 1992 and, in that...
|| 2 October 1968 || 2 October 1992 || CD
Democratic Centre (France)
Democratic Centre was a French Christian-Democratic and centrist party. It existed from 1966 to 1976 when it merged with another party into the Centre of Social Democrats.- History :...
(until 1976)
CDS (from 1976)
(within UDF
Union for French Democracy
The Union for French Democracy was a French centrist political party. It was founded in 1978 as an electoral alliance to support President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing in order to counterbalance the Gaullist preponderance over the right. This name was chosen due to the title of Giscard d'Estaing's...
from 1978)
|-
! style="background:;"| 3
|
|| René MonoryRené Monory
René Monory was a French centre-right politician.-Biography:René Monory was born in Loudun and began his career as the owner of a garage. He was the founder of the Poitiers Futuroscope.Monory first became a Senator in 1968...
|| 2 October 1992 || 1 October 1998 || CDS (until 1995)
FD
Democratic Force (France)
Democratic Force was a French centrist political party founded in 1995 by the merger between the centrist components of the Union for French Democracy : the Christian-democratic Centre of Social Democrats and the Social Democratic Party.It disappeared in 1998, when the UDF confederation became a...
(from 1995)
(within UDF
Union for French Democracy
The Union for French Democracy was a French centrist political party. It was founded in 1978 as an electoral alliance to support President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing in order to counterbalance the Gaullist preponderance over the right. This name was chosen due to the title of Giscard d'Estaing's...
)
|-
! style="background:; color:white;"| 4
|
|| Christian PonceletChristian Poncelet
Christian Poncelet is a conservative French politician. A member of President Nicolas Sarkozy's Union for a Popular Movement , he was President of the Senate from 1998 to 2008...
|| 1 October 1998 || 1 October 2008 || RPR
Rally for the Republic
The Rally for the Republic , was a French right-wing political party. Originating from the Union of Democrats for the Republic , it was founded by Jacques Chirac in 1976 and presented itself as the heir of Gaullism...
(until 2002)
UMP
Union for a Popular Movement
The Union for a Popular Movement is a centre-right political party in France, and one of the two major contemporary political parties in the country along with the center-left Socialist Party...
(from 2002)
|-
! style="background:; color:white;"| 5
| || Gérard Larcher
Gérard Larcher
Gérard Larcher is a French politician who was President of the Senate of France from 2008 to 2011. A member of the center-right Union for a Popular Movement, he was a Senator for the Yvelines département from 1986 to 2004 and has been again since 2007.Larcher was born in Flers, Orne to a Catholic...
|| 1 October 2008 || 1 October 2011 || UMP
Union for a Popular Movement
The Union for a Popular Movement is a centre-right political party in France, and one of the two major contemporary political parties in the country along with the center-left Socialist Party...
|-
! style="background:; color:white;"| 6
| || Jean-Pierre Bel
Jean-Pierre Bel
Jean-Pierre Bel is a French politician who has been President of the Senate of France since 2011. From the Ariège department, Bel is a member of the Socialist Party; he was elected to the Senate in September 1998 and re-elected in September 2008...
|| 1 October 2011 || Incumbent || PS
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...
|}
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