Louis Joseph Ernest Picard (24 December 1821 – 13 May 1877) was a French

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, ...

Life

Louis Joseph Ernest Picard was born in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

. After taking his doctorate in

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

in 1846 he joined the Parisian bar. Elected to the ''corps législatif'' in 1858, he became a follower of

Émile Ollivier Olivier Émile Ollivier (; 2 July 182520 August 1913) was a French statesman. Starting as an avid republican opposed to Emperor Napoleon III, he pushed the Emperor toward liberal reforms and in turn came increasingly into Napoleon's grip. He en ...

. As Ollivier moved towards the government standpoint, Picard, one of the members of the group known as ''Les Cinq'', veered more to the

left Left may refer to: Music * ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006 * ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016 * "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album '' Curb'', 1996 Direction * Left (direction), the relative direction opposite of right * ...

. In the 1860s Picard was an active member of the Conférence Molé, as were

Léon Gambetta Léon Gambetta (; 2 April 1838 – 31 December 1882) was a French lawyer and republican politician who proclaimed the French Third Republic in 1870 and played a prominent role in its early government. Early life and education Born in Cahors, Ga ...

, Clément Laurier and Léon Renault. At that time the Molé met in the Café Procope in the Rue de l'Ancienne-Comédie, the oldest coffee house in Paris. In 1868 he founded a weekly democratic journal, ''L'Electeur libre'', and in 1869 was elected both for

Hérault Hérault (; oc, Erau, ) is a department of the region of Occitania, Southern France. Named after the Hérault River, its prefecture is Montpellier. It had a population of 1,175,623 in 2019.Jules Favre Jules Claude Gabriel Favre (21 March 1809 – 20 January 1880) was a French statesman and lawyer. After the establishment of the Third Republic in September 1870, he became one of the leaders of the Opportunist Republicans in the National Assem ...

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, ...

to arrange the capitulation of Paris, and the next month he became minister of the interior in

Adolphe Thiers Marie Joseph Louis Adolphe Thiers ( , ; 15 April 17973 September 1877) was a French statesman and historian. He was the second elected President of France and first President of the French Third Republic. Thiers was a key figure in the July Rev ...

's cabinet. Attacked both by the monarchist and the republican press, he resigned in May. Later in the year he was sent as ambassador to

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, where he remained for two years. On his return to Paris he resumed his seat in the Left centre, and in 1875 became life senator. He died in Paris.

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Picard, Ernest 1821 births 1877 deaths Politicians from Paris French Ministers of Finance French interior ministers Members of the 2nd Corps législatif of the Second French Empire Members of the 3rd Corps législatif of the Second French Empire Members of the 4th Corps législatif of the Second French Empire Members of the National Assembly (1871) French life senators Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery