Louis Gaspard Amédée, baron Girod de l'Ain (18 October 1781 – 27 December 1847) was a French lawyer and politician who became Minister of Public Education and Religious Affairs in 1832.

Early years

Louis Gaspard Amédée baron Girod de l'Ain was born in

Gex, Ain Gex (; frp, Gèx; it, Gesio) is a commune in the Ain department in eastern France and a subprefecture of the department. It lies from the Swiss border and from Geneva. It is a subprefecture of Ain. History The town gave its name to the ...

, on 18 October 1781. His father was Baron Jean-Louis Girod (1753-1839). His father had been appointed mayor of Gex in 1780 by

Louis XVI of France Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was ...

. His mother was dame Louise-Claudine-Armande Fabry. He was the oldest of four sons. Amédée Girod de l'Ain studied law, and pleaded his first case at the age of seventeen in the

Court of Cassation A court of cassation is a high-instance court that exists in some judicial systems. Courts of cassation do not re-examine the facts of a case, they only interpret the relevant law. In this they are appellate courts of the highest instance. In th ...

. He practiced as a lawyer until 1806, when he was appointed deputy imperial prosecutor in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The ...

. In 1807 he became imperial prosecutor in

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...

. In 1809 he was made Attorney General to the Court of Appeal of Lyon, and in 1810 the auditor of the Council of State. He was appointed advocate-general at the imperial court of Paris in 1811, and held this position when the

First French Empire The First French Empire, officially the French Republic, then the French Empire (; Latin: ) after 1809, also known as Napoleonic France, was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, who established French hegemony over much of continental E ...

collapsed in 1814. Girod de l'Ain was among those whose defection hastened the fall of

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

. He quickly recognized the House of Bourbon and was able to retain his office during the first Bourbon Restoration. However, when Napoleon returned during the Hundred Days of 1815, he accepted the position of President of the Court of First Instance of the Seine. He was elected on 14 May 1815 to represent the arrondissement of Gex in the Chamber of Deputies, and was a zealous supporter of the imperial cause. Around this time he married Mlle Sivard de Beaulieu, grandniece of the prince Lebrun, Duke of Plaisance.

Bourbon Restoration

After the second Bourbon Restoration in 1815 Amédée Girod de l'Ain was excluded from the judiciary. He temporarily returned to private life. He gave asylum in his house to General

Antoine Drouot General Antoine Drouot, Comte Drouot (11 January 1774 – 24 March 1847) was a French officer who fought in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Drouot is one of a select group who were present at both the Battle of Trafalgar (1805) and ...

, and undertook the general's defense before the council of war. On 6 April 1816 the general was acquitted by a simple majority of four votes out of seven. Girod de l'Ain was restored to the judiciary and became a counselor at the court of Paris in 1819. In that position he was a member of a commission to prepare a proposed law for jury trials. He presided in turn over the courts of Seine and of Versailles. On 17 November 1827 Girod de l'Ain was elected Deputy for the second district of

Indre-et-Loire Indre-et-Loire () is a department in west-central France named after the Indre River and Loire River. In 2019, it had a population of 610,079.Jean-Baptiste de Martignac. He was reelected on 12 July 1830.

July Monarchy

Amédée Girod de l'Ain was in Paris at the time of the

July Revolution The French Revolution of 1830, also known as the July Revolution (french: révolution de Juillet), Second French Revolution, or ("Three Glorious ays), was a second French Revolution after the first in 1789. It led to the overthrow of King ...

, and strongly supported the assumption of power by

Louis Philippe I Louis Philippe (6 October 1773 – 26 August 1850) was King of the French from 1830 to 1848, and the penultimate monarch of France. As Louis Philippe, Duke of Chartres, he distinguished himself commanding troops during the Revolutionary Wa ...

. He was made Prefect of Police on 1 August 1830. On 21 October 1830 he was reelected as a deputy. He tried to ban meetings of the Society of Friends of the People and other political associations, but was not seen as strong enough by the government and in November 1830 was replaced as head of the police by Achille Libéral Treilhard. He then joined the Council of State. He was awarded the cross of the Legion of Honor at this time. Girod de l'Ain was reelected on 5 July 1831. On 1 August 1831 he was elected president of the Chamber of Deputies with the support of Casimir Pierre Périer. He was Minister of Public Education and Religious Affairs from 30 April 1832 to 11 October 1832. He did little while in office, and was seen as Périer's passive tool. On 11 October 1832 Girod de l'Ain was made a peer of France and was appointed President of the Council of State. He held this position until his death apart from a short interruption in May 1839 when he was Minister of Justice and Guardian of the Seals in the Interim Cabinet. He was active in the upper house, and was the author of a controversial report on the attempted insurgency of April 1834. In this he attacked the popular societies, and in particular the Société des Droits de l'Homme, and tried to show that there had been a grand conspiracy throughout France. Amédée Girod de l'Ain died on 27 December 1847 in Paris, aged 66. The Baron Girod de l’Ain is a hybrid perpetual rose developed by Reverchon in 1897. The fragrant blossoms are crimson edged in white.

Works

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References

Sources

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Girod de lAin, Louis Gaspard Amedee, baron 1781 births 1847 deaths People from Gex, Ain Politicians from Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Orléanists French Ministers of Public Education and Religious Affairs Members of the Chamber of Representatives (France) Members of the Chamber of Deputies of the Bourbon Restoration Members of the 1st Chamber of Deputies of the July Monarchy Members of the 2nd Chamber of Deputies of the July Monarchy Members of the Chamber of Peers of the July Monarchy Prefects of police of Paris 19th-century French lawyers