Odilon Barrot
Encyclopedia
Camille Hyacinthe Odilon Barrot (ɔdilɔ̃ baʁo; 19 July 1791 – 6 August 1873) was a French politician
.
Lozère
. He belonged to a legal family, his father, an advocate of Toulouse
, having been a member of the Convention
who had voted against the death of Louis XVI
. Odilon Barrot's earliest recollections were of the October insurrection of 1795. He was sent to the military school of Saint-Cyr
, but later moved to the Lycee Napoleon to study law and was called to the Parisian bar in 1811.
". He presided over the banquet given by the society to the 221 deputies who had signed the address of March 1830 to Charles X
, and threatened to reply to force by force. After the ordinances of the 26 July 1830, he joined the National Guard
and took an active part in the revolution. As secretary of the municipal commission, which sat at the hôtel-de-ville and formed itself into a provisional government, he was charged to convey to the chamber of deputies a protest embodying the terms which the advanced Liberals wished to impose on the king to be elected. He supported the idea of a constitutional monarchy
against the extreme Republicans
, and he was appointed one of the three commissioners chosen to escort Charles X out of France.
département. His concessions to the Parisian mob and his extreme gentleness towards those who demanded the prosecution of the ministers of Charles X led to an unflattering comparison with Jérôme Pétion
under similar circumstances. Louis Philippe
's government was far from satisfying his desires for reform, and he persistently urged the "broadening of the bases of the monarchy," while he protested his loyalty to the dynasty. He was returned to the chamber of deputies for the department of Eure
in 1831. The day after the demonstration of June 1832 on the occasion of the funeral of General Lamarque
, he made himself indirectly the mouthpiece of the Democrats in an interview with Louis Philippe, which is given at length in his Mêmoires. Subsequently, in pleading before the court of cassation on behalf of one of the rioters, he secured the annulling of the judgments given by the council of war.
in the event of the succession of the Comte de Paris
. In 1846 Barrot made a tour in the Near East
, returning in time to take part a second time in the preliminaries of revolution. He organized banquets of the disaffected in the various cities of France, and demanded electoral reform to avoid revolution. He did not foresee the strength of the outbreak for which his eloquence had prepared the way, and clung to the programme of 1830. He tried to support the regency of the duchess in the chamber on 24 February, only to find that the time was past for half-measures.
He acquiesced in the republic and gave his adhesion to General Cavaignac
. He became the chief of Louis Napoleon's first ministry in the hope of extracting Liberal measures, but was dismissed in 1849 as soon as he had served the president's purpose of avoiding open conflict.
, accepting in 1869 the presidency of an extraparliamentary committee on decentralization. After the fall of the empire he was nominated by Adolphe Thiers
, whom he had supported under Louis Philippe, as president of the council of state. But his powers were failing, and he had only filled his new office for about a year when he died at Bougival
.
He was described by Paul Thureau-Dangin
as "le plus solennel des indécis, le plus méditatif des irréfléchis, le plus heureux des ambitieux, le plus austere des courtisans de la foule." (Most solemn of the indecisive, most meditative of the unwise, happiest of the ambitious, most austere of the courtiers in the crowd.)
Politics of France
France is a semi-presidential representative democratic republic, in which the President of France is head of state and the Prime Minister of France is the head of government, and there is a pluriform, multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is...
.
Early life
Barrot was born at VillefortVillefort, Lozère
Villefort is a commune in the Lozère department in southern France.-People:Villefort was the birthplace of Odilon Barrot , politician and Prime Minister of France.-External links:*...
Lozère
Lozère
Lozère , is a department in southeast France near the Massif Central, named after Mont Lozère.- History :Lozère is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
. He belonged to a legal family, his father, an advocate of Toulouse
Toulouse
Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
, having been a member of the Convention
National Convention
During the French Revolution, the National Convention or Convention, in France, comprised the constitutional and legislative assembly which sat from 20 September 1792 to 26 October 1795 . It held executive power in France during the first years of the French First Republic...
who had voted against the death of Louis XVI
Louis XVI of France
Louis XVI was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre until 1791, and then as King of the French from 1791 to 1792, before being executed in 1793....
. Odilon Barrot's earliest recollections were of the October insurrection of 1795. He was sent to the military school of Saint-Cyr
École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr
The École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr is the foremost French military academy. Its official name is . It is often referred to as Saint-Cyr . Its motto is "Ils s'instruisent pour vaincre": literally "They study to vanquish" or "Training for victory"...
, but later moved to the Lycee Napoleon to study law and was called to the Parisian bar in 1811.
Early career
Barrot was placed in the office of the conventionel Jean Mailhe, advocate before the council of state and the court of cassation, who was proscribed at the second restoration. Barrot eventually succeeded him in both positions. His dissatisfaction with the government of the restoration was shown in his conduct of some political trials. For his opposition in 1820 to a law by which any person might be arrested and detained on a warrant signed by three ministers, he was summoned before a court of assize, but acquitted.1827 to 1830
Although intimate with Lafayette and others, he took no share in their schemes for the overthrow of the government, but in 1827 he joined the association known as "Aide-toi, le ciel t'aideraAide-toi, le ciel t'aidera
Aide-toi, le ciel t'aidera was a French association led by Adolphe Thiers , French politician, who was working for more democracy under the French Restauration , and Charles X of France, king from 1824 to 1830.Literally translated, 'le ciel' means 'the sky', but 'heaven' seems a more apt...
". He presided over the banquet given by the society to the 221 deputies who had signed the address of March 1830 to 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 threatened to reply to force by force. After the ordinances of the 26 July 1830, he joined the National Guard
National Guard (France)
The National Guard was the name given at the time of the French Revolution to the militias formed in each city, in imitation of the National Guard created in Paris. It was a military force separate from the regular army...
and took an active part in the revolution. As secretary of the municipal commission, which sat at the hôtel-de-ville and formed itself into a provisional government, he was charged to convey to the chamber of deputies a protest embodying the terms which the advanced Liberals wished to impose on the king to be elected. He supported the idea of a constitutional monarchy
Constitutional monarchy
Constitutional monarchy is a form of government in which a monarch acts as head of state within the parameters of a constitution, whether it be a written, uncodified or blended constitution...
against the extreme Republicans
Republicanism
Republicanism is the ideology of governing a nation as a republic, where the head of state is appointed by means other than heredity, often elections. The exact meaning of republicanism varies depending on the cultural and historical context...
, and he was appointed one of the three commissioners chosen to escort Charles X out of France.
1831 to 1842
On his return he was nominated prefect of the SeineSeine (département)
Seine was a département of France encompassing Paris and its immediate suburbs. Its préfecture was Paris and its official number was 75. The Seine département was abolished in 1968 and its territory divided among four new départements....
département. His concessions to the Parisian mob and his extreme gentleness towards those who demanded the prosecution of the ministers of Charles X led to an unflattering comparison with Jérôme Pétion
Jérôme Pétion de Villeneuve
Jérôme Pétion de Villeneuve was a French writer and politician.Jérôme Pétion de Villeneuve was the son of a at Chartres. Though it is known that he was trained as a lawyer, very few specifics are known about Petion’s early life, as he was virtually unknown prior to the French Revolution...
under similar circumstances. 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 government was far from satisfying his desires for reform, and he persistently urged the "broadening of the bases of the monarchy," while he protested his loyalty to the dynasty. He was returned to the chamber of deputies for the department of Eure
Eure
Eure is a department in the north of France named after the river Eure.- History :Eure is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790...
in 1831. The day after the demonstration of June 1832 on the occasion of the funeral of General Lamarque
Jean Maximilien Lamarque
Jean Maximilien Lamarque was a French commander during the Napoleonic Wars who later became a member of French Parliament. As an opponent of the Ancien Régime, he is known for his active suppression of Royalist and Legitimist activity...
, he made himself indirectly the mouthpiece of the Democrats in an interview with Louis Philippe, which is given at length in his Mêmoires. Subsequently, in pleading before the court of cassation on behalf of one of the rioters, he secured the annulling of the judgments given by the council of war.
1842 to 1849
The death of the Duke of Orleans in 1842 was a blow to Barrot's party, which sought to substitute the regency of the Duchess of Orleans for that of the Duke of NemoursLouis, Duke of Nemours
Prince Louis of Orléans was the second son of the future King Louis-Philippe I of France, and his wife Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily. Under the reign of his father from 1830–1848, he was styled as Prince Louis, Duke of Nemours.-Childhood:He was born at the Palais Royal, in Paris...
in the event of the succession of the Comte de Paris
Philippe, Comte de Paris
Philippe d'Orléans, Count of Paris was the grandson of Louis Philippe I, King of the French. He was a claimant to the French throne from 1848 until his death.-Early life:...
. In 1846 Barrot made a tour in the Near East
Near East
The Near East is a geographical term that covers different countries for geographers, archeologists, and historians, on the one hand, and for political scientists, economists, and journalists, on the other...
, returning in time to take part a second time in the preliminaries of revolution. He organized banquets of the disaffected in the various cities of France, and demanded electoral reform to avoid revolution. He did not foresee the strength of the outbreak for which his eloquence had prepared the way, and clung to the programme of 1830. He tried to support the regency of the duchess in the chamber on 24 February, only to find that the time was past for half-measures.
He acquiesced in the republic and gave his adhesion to General Cavaignac
Louis Eugène Cavaignac
Louis-Eugène-John-Jacob-Cavaignac , French general, second son of Jean-Baptiste Cavaignac and brother of Éléonore Louis Godefroi Cavaignac, was born at Paris.- Military career :...
. He became the chief of Louis Napoleon's first ministry in the hope of extracting Liberal measures, but was dismissed in 1849 as soon as he had served the president's purpose of avoiding open conflict.
Later career
After the coup d'état of December 1851 he was one of those who sought to accuse Napoleon of high treason. He was imprisoned for a short time and retired from active politics for some ten years. He was drawn once more into affairs by the hopes of reform held out by Emile OllivierÉmile Ollivier
Olivier Émile Ollivier was a French statesman. Although a republican, he served as a cabinet minister under Emperor Napoleon III and led the process of turning his regime into a "liberal Empire".-Early life and career:Émile Ollivier was born in Marseille...
, accepting in 1869 the presidency of an extraparliamentary committee on decentralization. After the fall of the empire he was nominated by Adolphe 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...
, whom he had supported under Louis Philippe, as president of the council of state. But his powers were failing, and he had only filled his new office for about a year when he died at Bougival
Bougival
Bougival is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris from the center....
.
He was described by Paul Thureau-Dangin
Paul Thureau-Dangin
Paul Thureau-Dangin , member of the French Academy , was a historian of the reign of Louis-Philippe and also of the revival of Catholic thought in nineteenth century Britain.Thureau-Dangin reconciled his liberal Catholic position with support for republican...
as "le plus solennel des indécis, le plus méditatif des irréfléchis, le plus heureux des ambitieux, le plus austere des courtisans de la foule." (Most solemn of the indecisive, most meditative of the unwise, happiest of the ambitious, most austere of the courtiers in the crowd.)