Louis, comte Molé
Encyclopedia
Louis-Mathieu Molé, also known as Comte Molé and Mathieu Molé (24 January 1781 – 23 November 1855) was a French statesman and 18th Prime Minister of France.
of Paris, who came of the family of the famous president noted below, was guillotine
d during the Terror
. Count Molé's early days were spent in Switzerland
and in England with his mother, a relative of Lamoignon-Malesherbes
.
On his return to France, he studied at the Ecole Centrale des Travaux Publics
, and his social education was accomplished in the salon of Pauline de Beaumont, the friend of Châteaubriand
and Joubert
. A volume of Essais de morale et de politique introduced him to the notice of Napoleon, who attached him to the staff of the council of state. He became master of requests in 1806, and next year prefect of the Côte-d'Or
, Councillor of State and Director-General of Bridges and Roads in 1809, and Count of the Empire in the autumn of the same year.
He served as Napoleon’s advisor on Jewish affairs and was heavily involved with Napoleon’s gathering of a Jewish Grand Sanhedrin in 1807. Mole initially did not support Jewish emancipation
, though he seems to have moderated his position over the course of his involvement with the Sanhedrin and particularly Abraham Furtado
.
In November 1813, he became Minister of Justice
. Although he resumed his functions as Director-General during the Hundred Days
, he excused himself from taking his seat in the Council of State and was apparently not seriously compromised, for Louis XVIII
confirmed his appointment as Director-General and made him a peer of France. Molé supported the policy of the duc de Richelieu
, who in 1817 entrusted to him the direction of the Ministry of Marine, which he held until December 1818.
From that time, he belonged to the moderate opposition, and he accepted the result of the revolution of 1830
without enthusiasm. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs
in the first cabinet of Louis Philippe
's reign, and was confronted with the task of reconciling the European powers to the change of government. The real direction of foreign affairs, however, lay less in his hands than in those of Talleyrand, who had gone to London as the ambassador of the new king.
After a few months in office, Molé retired, and it was not until 1836 that the fall of Thiers
led to his becoming Prime Minister
of a new government, in which he held the portfolio of foreign affairs. One of his first actions was the release of the ex-ministers of Charles X
, and he had to deal with the disputes with Switzerland and with the Strasburg coup of Louis-Napoléon
. He withdrew the French garrison from Ancona
, but pursued an active policy in Mexico
and in Algeria
.
Personal and political differences rapidly arose between Molé and his chief colleague, Guizot, and led to an open rupture in March 1837 in face of the general opposition to a grant to the duc de Nemours. After some attempts to secure a new combination, Molé reconstructed his ministry in April, Guizot being excluded. The general election in the autumn gave him no fresh support in the Chamber of Deputies, while he had now to face a formidable coalition between Guizot, the Left Centre under Thiers, and politicians of the Dynastic Left and the Republican Left. Molé, supported by Louis Philippe, held his ground against the general hostility until the beginning of 1839, when, after acrid discussions on the address, the chamber was dissolved. The new house showed little change in the strength of parties, but Molé resigned on 31 March 1839.
A year later he was elected to the Académie française
, and though he continued to speak frequently, he took no important share in party politics. Louis Philippe sought his help in his vain efforts to form a ministry in February 1848. After the revolution, he was deputy for the Gironde
to the Constituent Assembly, and in 1849 to the Legislative Assembly, where he was one of the leaders of the Right until the coup d'état on 2 December 1851 drove him from public life.
He died in the family castle of Champlâtreux in Epinay (Seine-et-Oise
) on 23 November 1855 and was buried in the little church of the village.
Biography
Molé was born in Paris. His father, a president of the parlementParlement
Parlements were regional legislative bodies in Ancien Régime France.The political institutions of the Parlement in Ancien Régime France developed out of the previous council of the king, the Conseil du roi or curia regis, and consequently had ancient and customary rights of consultation and...
of Paris, who came of the family of the famous president noted below, was guillotine
Guillotine
The guillotine is a device used for carrying out :executions by decapitation. It consists of a tall upright frame from which an angled blade is suspended. This blade is raised with a rope and then allowed to drop, severing the head from the body...
d during the Terror
Reign of Terror
The Reign of Terror , also known simply as The Terror , was a period of violence that occurred after the onset of the French Revolution, incited by conflict between rival political factions, the Girondins and the Jacobins, and marked by mass executions of "enemies of...
. Count Molé's early days were spent in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
and in England with his mother, a relative of Lamoignon-Malesherbes
Guillaume-Chrétien de Lamoignon de Malesherbes
Guillaume-Chrétien de Lamoignon de Malesherbes , often referred to as Malesherbes or Lamoignon-Malesherbes, was a French statesman, minister, and afterwards counsel for the defence of Louis XVI.-Biography:...
.
On his return to France, he studied at the Ecole Centrale des Travaux Publics
École Polytechnique
The École Polytechnique is a state-run institution of higher education and research in Palaiseau, Essonne, France, near Paris. Polytechnique is renowned for its four year undergraduate/graduate Master's program...
, and his social education was accomplished in the salon of Pauline de Beaumont, the friend of Châteaubriand
François-René de Chateaubriand
François-René, vicomte de Chateaubriand was a French writer, politician, diplomat and historian. He is considered the founder of Romanticism in French literature.-Early life and exile:...
and Joubert
Barthélemy Catherine Joubert
Barthélemy Catherine Joubert was a French general. He joined the royal French army in 1784 and rose rapidly in rank during the French Revolutionary Wars. Napoleon Bonaparte recognized his talents and gave him increased responsibilities...
. A volume of Essais de morale et de politique introduced him to the notice of Napoleon, who attached him to the staff of the council of state. He became master of requests in 1806, and next year prefect of the Côte-d'Or
Côte-d'Or
Côte-d'Or is a department in the eastern part of France.- History :Côte-d'Or is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was formed from part of the former province of Burgundy.- Geography :...
, Councillor of State and Director-General of Bridges and Roads in 1809, and Count of the Empire in the autumn of the same year.
He served as Napoleon’s advisor on Jewish affairs and was heavily involved with Napoleon’s gathering of a Jewish Grand Sanhedrin in 1807. Mole initially did not support Jewish emancipation
Jewish Emancipation
Jewish emancipation was the external and internal process of freeing the Jewish people of Europe, including recognition of their rights as equal citizens, and the formal granting of citizenship as individuals; it occurred gradually between the late 18th century and the early 20th century...
, though he seems to have moderated his position over the course of his involvement with the Sanhedrin and particularly Abraham Furtado
Abraham Furtado
Abraham Furtado was born to a French Jewish family of Portuguese Marano descent. He was elected president of the Assembly of Notables; later he served as secretary of Napoleon Bonaparte's "Grand Sanhedrin", a Jewish high court convened in Europe....
.
In November 1813, he became Minister of Justice
Minister of Justice (France)
The Ministry of Justice is controlled by the French Minister of Justice , a top-level cabinet position in the French government. The current Minister of Justice is Michel Mercier...
. Although he resumed his functions as Director-General during the Hundred Days
Hundred Days
The Hundred Days, sometimes known as the Hundred Days of Napoleon or Napoleon's Hundred Days for specificity, marked the period between Emperor Napoleon I of France's return from exile on Elba to Paris on 20 March 1815 and the second restoration of King Louis XVIII on 8 July 1815...
, he excused himself from taking his seat in the Council of State and was apparently not seriously compromised, for Louis XVIII
Louis XVIII of France
Louis XVIII , known as "the Unavoidable", was King of France and of Navarre from 1814 to 1824, omitting the Hundred Days in 1815...
confirmed his appointment as Director-General and made him a peer of France. Molé supported the policy of the duc de Richelieu
Armand-Emmanuel du Plessis, Duc de Richelieu
Armand Emmanuel Sophie Septimanie de Vignerot du Plessis, 5th Duke of Richelieu was a prominent French statesman during the Bourbon Restoration...
, who in 1817 entrusted to him the direction of the Ministry of Marine, which he held until December 1818.
From that time, he belonged to the moderate opposition, and he accepted the result of the revolution of 1830
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...
without enthusiasm. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs
Minister of Foreign Affairs (France)
Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs ), is France's foreign affairs ministry, with the headquarters located on the Quai d'Orsay in Paris close to the National Assembly of France. The Minister of Foreign and European Affairs in the government of France is the cabinet minister responsible for...
in the first cabinet of Louis Philippe
Louis-Philippe of France
Louis Philippe I was King of the French from 1830 to 1848 in what was known as the July Monarchy. His father was a duke who supported the French Revolution but was nevertheless guillotined. Louis Philippe fled France as a young man and spent 21 years in exile, including considerable time in the...
's reign, and was confronted with the task of reconciling the European powers to the change of government. The real direction of foreign affairs, however, lay less in his hands than in those of Talleyrand, who had gone to London as the ambassador of the new king.
After a few months in office, Molé retired, and it was not until 1836 that the fall of Thiers
Adolphe Thiers
Marie Joseph Louis Adolphe Thiers was a French politician and historian. was a prime minister under King Louis-Philippe of France. Following the overthrow of the Second Empire he again came to prominence as the French leader who suppressed the revolutionary Paris Commune of 1871...
led to his becoming Prime Minister
Prime Minister of France
The Prime Minister of France in the Fifth Republic is the head of government and of the Council of Ministers of France. The head of state is the President of the French Republic...
of a new government, in which he held the portfolio of foreign affairs. One of his first actions was the release of the ex-ministers of Charles X
Charles X of France
Charles X was known for most of his life as the Comte d'Artois before he reigned as King of France and of Navarre from 16 September 1824 until 2 August 1830. A younger brother to Kings Louis XVI and Louis XVIII, he supported the latter in exile and eventually succeeded him...
, and he had to deal with the disputes with Switzerland and with the Strasburg coup of Louis-Napoléon
Napoleon III of France
Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte was the President of the French Second Republic and as Napoleon III, the ruler of the Second French Empire. He was the nephew and heir of Napoleon I, christened as Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte...
. He withdrew the French garrison from Ancona
Ancona
Ancona is a city and a seaport in the Marche region, in central Italy, with a population of 101,909 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region....
, but pursued an active policy in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
and in Algeria
French Algeria
French Algeria lasted from 1830 to 1962, under a variety of governmental systems. From 1848 until independence, the whole Mediterranean region of Algeria was administered as an integral part of France, much like Corsica and Réunion are to this day. The vast arid interior of Algeria, like the rest...
.
Personal and political differences rapidly arose between Molé and his chief colleague, Guizot, and led to an open rupture in March 1837 in face of the general opposition to a grant to the duc de Nemours. After some attempts to secure a new combination, Molé reconstructed his ministry in April, Guizot being excluded. The general election in the autumn gave him no fresh support in the Chamber of Deputies, while he had now to face a formidable coalition between Guizot, the Left Centre under Thiers, and politicians of the Dynastic Left and the Republican Left. Molé, supported by Louis Philippe, held his ground against the general hostility until the beginning of 1839, when, after acrid discussions on the address, the chamber was dissolved. The new house showed little change in the strength of parties, but Molé resigned on 31 March 1839.
A year later he was elected to the Académie française
Académie française
L'Académie française , also called the French Academy, is the pre-eminent French learned body on matters pertaining to the French language. The Académie was officially established in 1635 by Cardinal Richelieu, the chief minister to King Louis XIII. Suppressed in 1793 during the French Revolution,...
, and though he continued to speak frequently, he took no important share in party politics. Louis Philippe sought his help in his vain efforts to form a ministry in February 1848. After the revolution, he was deputy for the Gironde
Gironde
For the Revolutionary party, see Girondists.Gironde is a common name for the Gironde estuary, where the mouths of the Garonne and Dordogne rivers merge, and for a department in the Aquitaine region situated in southwest France.-History:...
to the Constituent Assembly, and in 1849 to the Legislative Assembly, where he was one of the leaders of the Right until the coup d'état on 2 December 1851 drove him from public life.
He died in the family castle of Champlâtreux in Epinay (Seine-et-Oise
Seine-et-Oise
Seine-et-Oise was a département of France encompassing the western, northern, and southern parts of the metropolitan area of Paris. Its préfecture was Versailles and its official number was 78. Seine-et-Oise was abolished in 1968....
) on 23 November 1855 and was buried in the little church of the village.