Paul Eugène Louis Deschanel (; 13 February 1855, in Schaerbeek28 April 1922) was a French politician. He served as

President of France The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (french: Président de la République française), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency i ...

from 18 February to 21 September 1920.

Biography

Paul Deschanel, the son of Émile Deschanel (1819–1904), professor at the

Collège de France The Collège de France (), formerly known as the ''Collège Royal'' or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment ('' grand établissement'') in France. It is located in Paris n ...

and senator, was born in

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 his father was living in exile (1851–1859), owing to his opposition to

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A neph ...

. He is one of only two French Presidents (the other is

Valéry Giscard d'Estaing Valéry René Marie Georges Giscard d'Estaing (, , ; 2 February 19262 December 2020), also known as Giscard or VGE, was a French politician who served as President of France from 1974 to 1981. After serving as Minister of Finance under prime ...

) who were born outside France (Deschanel in Belgium, Giscard in

Koblenz Koblenz (; Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz''), spelled Coblenz before 1926, is a German city on the banks of the Rhine and the Moselle, a multi-nation tributary. Koblenz was established as a Roman military post by Drusus around 8 B.C. Its nam ...

, Germany).

Education

Paul Deschanel was schooled at the Collège Sainte-Barbe-des-Champs in

Fontenay-aux-Roses Fontenay-aux-Roses () is a commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. In 1880 a girls school École Normale Supérieure was opened in the town. It was one of the most prestigious of Paris and ...

, then at the

Lycée Louis-le-Grand The Lycée Louis-le-Grand (), also referred to simply as Louis-le-Grand or by its acronym LLG, is a public Lycée (French secondary school, also known as sixth form college) located on rue Saint-Jacques in central Paris. It was founded in the ...

and the

Lycée Condorcet The Lycée Condorcet () is a school founded in 1803 in Paris, France, located at 8, rue du Havre, in the city's 9th arrondissement. It is one of the four oldest high schools in Paris and also one of the most prestigious. Since its inception, var ...

in Paris. The family left Paris for several months in 1870–1871, due to the Siege of Paris. Deschanel completed his military service in the infantry in Paris in 1873, then studied at the École Libre des Sciences Politiques and the Faculty of Law of Paris, graduating with a baccalaureate in law in 1874 and a licentiate in law in 1875.

Early career

He began his career as secretary to Deshayes de Marcère (1876) and to

Jules Simon Jules François Simon (; 31 December 1814 – 8 June 1896) was a French statesman and philosopher, and one of the leaders of the Moderate Republicans in the Third French Republic. Biography Simon was born at Lorient. His father was a linen-dra ...

(1876–1877). In October 1885, he was elected deputy for

Eure-et-Loir Eure-et-Loir (, locally: ) is a French department, named after the Eure and Loir rivers. It is located in the region of Centre-Val de Loire. In 2019, Eure-et-Loir had a population of 431,575.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 * ...

, not only in parliament, but also in public meetings throughout France. His addresses at

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...

on 26 October 1896, at Carmaux on 27 December 1896, and at Roubaix on 10 April 1897, were triumphs of clear and eloquent exposition of the political and social aims of the Progressist party. In June 1898, he was elected president of the chamber, and was re-elected in 1901, but rejected in 1902. Nevertheless, he came forward brilliantly in 1904 and 1905 as a supporter of the law on the

separation of church and state The separation of church and state is a philosophical and jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the state. Conceptually, the term refers to the creation of a secular s ...

. He also gained a position on the Committee of Foreign Affairs, and was president of the committee when the Franco-German treaty of 1911 came before Parliament. He was re-elected deputy in 1910, and on 23 May 1912 was chosen to be the President of the Chamber. In this role he played a great part during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

as the national orator; he delivered orations more frequently than he made speeches. He served until he was elected

on 17 January 1920 by an overwhelming majority, having beaten

Georges Clemenceau Georges Benjamin Clemenceau (, also , ; 28 September 1841 – 24 November 1929) was a French statesman who served as Prime Minister of France from 1906 to 1909 and again from 1917 until 1920. A key figure of the Independent Radicals, he was a ...

in the preliminary party ballot.

Presidency

Deschanel aspired to a much more active role as president than had been ''de rigueur'' under the Third Republic; but, for reasons of his own mental health, was unable to put his ideas to the test. As president, his eccentric behaviour caused some consternation; on one occasion, after a delegation of schoolgirls had presented him with a bouquet, he tossed the flowers back at them. It all culminated when, late one night, 24 May 1920, he fell out of a large window of the presidential train near

Montargis Montargis () is a commune in the Loiret department, Centre-Val de Loire, France. Montargis is the seventh most populous commune in the Loiret, after Orléans and its suburbs. It is near a large forest, and contains light industry and farming, ...

after taking some sleeping pills and was found wandering in his nightshirt by a platelayer, who took him to the nearest level-crossing keeper's cottage. Soon afterwards, Deschanel walked out of a state meeting, straight into a lake, fully clothed. His resignation was offered on 21 September 1920, and he was placed in a

sanatorium A sanatorium (from Latin '' sānāre'' 'to heal, make healthy'), also sanitarium or sanitorium, are antiquated names for specialised hospitals, for the treatment of specific diseases, related ailments and convalescence. Sanatoriums are often ...

Rueil-Malmaison Rueil-Malmaison () is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, in the Hauts-de-Seine department, Île-de-France region. It is located from the centre of Paris. In 2017, it had a population of 78,152. It is one of the wealthiest suburbs of ...

for three months. After his release he was elected to the senate in January 1921, serving until his death from pneumonia. Until the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that ...

was abolished in 1981, he was the only French head of state during whose term in office no persons in France were executed. Deschanel himself was a longtime death penalty opponent.

Works

Paul Deschanel was elected a member of the

Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosop ...

in 1899, his books being: * ''La Question du Tonkin'', Berger-Levrault (1883) * ''La Politique française en Océanie : à propos du canal de Panama'', Berger-Levrault (1884) * ''Les Intérêts français dans l’océan Pacifique'', Berger-Levrault (1888) * ''Orateurs et Hommes d'État : Frédéric II et M. de Bismarck, Fox et Pitt, Lord Grey, Talleyrand, Berryer, Gladstone'', Calmann-Lévy (1888) * ''Figures littéraires : Renan, Paul Bourget, Sainte-Beuve, Edgar Quinet, Paul Dubois, Mignet, Diderot, Rabelais'', Calmann-Lévy (1888) * ''Figures de femmes : Madame du Deffand, Madame d'Épinay, Madame Necker, Madame de Beaumont, Madame Récamier, etc.'', Calmann-Lévy (1889) * ''Questions actuelles : discours prononcés à la Chambre des députés'', Hetzel (1890) * ''La Décentralisation'', Berger-Levrault (1895) * ''La Question sociale'', Calmann-Lévy (1898) * ''La République nouvelle'', Calmann-Lévy (1898) * ''Quatre ans de présidence (1898–1902)'', Calmann-Lévy (1902) * ''Politique intérieure et étrangère : la séparation, les retraites, la délation, l'anti-patriotisme, l'entente franco-anglaise, les affaires du Maroc'', Calmann-Lévy (1906) * ''À l’Institut'', Calmann-Lévy (1907) * ''L'Organisation de la démocratie'', Fasquelle (1910) * ''Hors des frontières'', Fasquelle (1910) * ''Paroles françaises'', Fasquelle (1911) * ''Les Commandements de la patrie'', Bloud & Gay (1917) * ''La France victorieuse : paroles de guerre'', Fasquelle (1919) * ''Gambetta'', Hachette (1919)

References

External links