Charles Dupuy

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French politician Charles Dupuy.

Charles Alexandre Dupuy (November 5, 1851 - 1923) was a French statesman, three times prime minister.

1 Biography
2 Dupuy's First Ministry, 4 April - 3 December 1893
3 Dupuy's Second Ministry, 30 May 1894 - 26 January 1895
4 Dupuy's Third Ministry, 1 November 1898 - 22 June 1899

He was born in Le Puy-en-Velay, Auvergne, France, where his father was a minor official. After a period as a professor of philosophy in the provinces, he was appointed a school inspector, thus obtaining a practical acquaintance with the needs of French education. In 1885 he was elected to the chamber as an Opportunist Republican. After acting as "reporter" of the budget for public instruction, he became minister for the department, in Alexandre Ribot's cabinet, in 1892. In April 1893 he formed a ministry himself, taking as his office that of minister of the interior, but resigned at the end of November, and on December 5 was elected president of the chamber. During his first week of office an anarchist, Vaillant, who had managed to gain admission to the chamber, threw a bomb at the president, and Dupuy's calm response --"Messieurs, la séance continue" -- gained him much credit.

In May 1894 he again became premier and minister of the interior; and he was at President Carnot's side when Carnot was stabbed to death at Lyons in June. He then stood for the presidency, but was defeated, and his cabinet remained in office till January 1895; under this government, Alfred Dreyfus was arrested and condemned (December 23, 1894). The progress of the Dreyfus Affair cast its shadow over Dupuy, along with other French "ministrables," but in November 1898, after Henri Brisson had at last remitted the case to the judgment of the court of cassation, he formed a cabinet of Republican concentration.

In view of the apparent likelihood that the judges of the criminal division of the court of cassation--who formed the ordinary tribunal for such an appeal—would decide in favour of Dreyfus, it was thought that Dupuy's new cabinet would be strong enough to reconcile public opinion to such a result; but, to the surprise of outside observers, Dupuy proposed a law in the chamber transferring the decision to a full court of all the divisions of the court of cassation. This arbitrary act, though adopted by the chamber, was construed as a fresh attempt to maintain the judgment of the first court-martial. In the interim, President Félix Faure (an anti-Dreyfusard) died, and the accession of Émile Loubet helped placate the public. The whole court of cassation decided that there must be a new court-martial, and Dupuy at once resigned (June 1899). In June 1900 he was elected senator for the Haute Saône.

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

Charles Dupuy - President of the Council and Minister of the Interior
Jules Develle - Minister of Foreign Affairs
Julien Léon Loizillon - Minister of War
Paul Peytral - Minister of Finance
Eugène Guérin - Minister of Justice
Louis Terrier - Minister of Commerce, Industry, and Colonies
Auguste Alfred Lefèvre - Minister of Marine
Raymond Poincaré - Minister of Public Instruction, Fine Arts, and Worship
Albert Viger - Minister of Agriculture
Jules Viette - Minister of Public Works

Charles Dupuy - President of the Council and Minister of the Interior and of Worship
Gabriel Hanotaux - Minister of Foreign Affairs
Auguste Mercier - Minister of War
Raymond Poincaré - Minister of Finance
Eugène Guérin - Minister of Justice
Félix Faure - Minister of Marine
Georges Leygues - Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts
Albert Viger - Minister of Agriculture
Théophile Delcassé - Minister of Colonies
Louis Barthou - Minister of Public Works
Victor Lourties - Minister of Commerce and Industry and of Posts and Telegraphs

Charles Dupuy - President of the Council and Minister of the Interior and Worship
Théophile Delcassé - Minister of Foreign Affairs
Charles de Freycinet - Minister of War
Paul Peytral - Minister of Finance
Georges Lebret - Minister of Justice
Édouard Locroy - Minister of Marine
Georges Leygues - Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts
Albert Viger - Minister of Agriculture
Antoine Guillain - Minister of Colonies
Camille Krantz - Minister of Public Works
Paul Delombre - Minister of Commerce and Industry and of Posts and Telegraphs

Changes

6 May 1899 - Camille Krantz succeeds Freycinet as Minister of War. Jean Monestier succeeds Krantz as Minister of Public Works.

Preceded by Alexandre Ribot	Prime Minister of France 1893	Succeeded by Jean Casimir-Perier
Preceded by Jean Casimir-Perier	Prime Minister of France 1894–1895	Succeeded by Alexandre Ribot
Preceded by Henri Brisson	Prime Minister of France 1898–1899	Succeeded by René Waldeck-Rousseau