Pierre Sylvain Dumon (14 February 1797 – 24 February 1870) was a French politician who was a deputy from 1831 to 1848, and

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", ...

in the last years of the

July Monarchy The July Monarchy (french: Monarchie de Juillet), officially the Kingdom of France (french: Royaume de France), was a liberal constitutional monarchy in France under , starting on 26 July 1830, with the July Revolution of 1830, and ending 23 ...

Early years

Pierre Sylvain Dumon was born in

Agen The commune of Agen (, ; ) is the prefecture of the Lot-et-Garonne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. It lies on the river Garonne southeast of Bordeaux. Geography The city of Agen lies in the southwestern departme ...

, Lot-et-Garonne, on 14 February 1797. He studied at the

Lycée Henri IV In France, secondary education is in two stages: * ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 15. * ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for children betwee ...

in Paris, then became a lawyer. Under the

Bourbon Restoration Bourbon Restoration may refer to: France under the House of Bourbon: * Bourbon Restoration in France (1814, after the French revolution and Napoleonic era, until 1830; interrupted by the Hundred Days in 1815) Spain under the Spanish Bourbons: * Abs ...

he joined the bar of the Court of Paris in 1818. He became the secretary of the advocate Dupin the elder, who had defended Marshal Ney in 1815 and was the adviser of the Duke of Orleans. He had liberal views and defended opponents of the regime. He pleaded in the case of the Saumur plot. He gained a distinguished reputation among the liberal advocates of Paris.

July Monarchy

On 27 March 1831 Dumon was elected deputy for the 1st electoral college of Lot-et-Garonne (Agen). He took his seat with the liberal opposition. He was offered the position of General Counsel in Agen, which he refused. Dumoan was reelected on 5 July 1831. He was named Councillor of State on special duty in 1832. He was reelected on 12 November 1833 and in successive elections in 1834, 1837, 1839 and 1842. He sat with the

Doctrinaires During the Bourbon Restoration (1814–1830) and the July Monarchy (1830–1848), the Doctrinals (french: doctrinaires) were a group of French royalists who hoped to reconcile the monarchy with the French Revolution and power with liberty. Hea ...

. He was vice-president of the legislative committee in 1840, and a member of the committee on Algeria in 1842. Dumon accepted the position of

Minister of Public Works This list indicates government departments in various countries dedicated to public works or infrastructure. See also * Public works * Ministry or Board of Public Works, the imperial Chinese ministry overseeing public projects from the Tang ...

on 16 December 1843, and was reelected on 13 January 1844 and on 1 August 1846. He was strongly opposed to state operation of the railways, and favored the monopoly of large companies. He invested much of his personal fortune in railways. This caused him to be violently attacked by the opposition. He also improved the network of roads and waterways. On 9 May 1847 he accepted Finance portfolio, and held this position at the time of the

February Revolution of 1848 The French Revolution of 1848 (french: Révolution française de 1848), also known as the February Revolution (), was a brief period of civil unrest in France, in February 1848, that led to the collapse of the July Monarchy and the foundation ...

. Dumon resisted change, and rejected proposals to adjust postal rates, and salt tax and cancellation of 3% annuities. He did request approval for increasing the amount of government debt. The government became increasingly unpopular as the economy struggled, the financial situation worsened and reforms were resisted. Dumon was named a knight of the

Legion of Honor The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

in 1834 and a grand officer on 29 April 1846.

Last years

The revolution of 1848 ended Dumon's political career. Fearing that he would be put on trial, and still faithful to the royal family, he fled to England. He returned to France in late December 1848 after the election of

Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte 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 nephew ...

as President of the Republic. He settled in his château of Castels near Agen, but often returned to England to visit the exiled royal family. He also spent time in Paris as a member of the Board of Directors of the P.L.M. Company. In 1859 he became a member of the ''

Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques 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 ...

'' (Academy of Moral and Political Sciences). Dumon died 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 ...

on 24 February 1870.

Works

*''Histoire financière de l'équilibre Des Budgets sous la monarchie de 1830'' (1849). Paris, M.Lévy

Notes

Sources