Émile Keller (

Belfort Belfort (; archaic , ) is a city in northeastern France, situated approximately from the Swiss border. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Territoire de Belfort. Belfort is from Paris and from Basel. The residents of the city ...

,October 8, 1828 – 1909) was a French writer and politician.

Biography

In 1857 he was elected as a deputy for the

Haut-Rhin Haut-Rhin (); Alsatian: ''Owerelsàss'' or '; , . is a department in the Grand Est region, France, bordering both Germany and Switzerland. It is named after the river Rhine; its name means Upper Rhine. Haut-Rhin is the smaller and less pop ...

district to the French Assembly. He soon made himself prominent as a leader of the

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

Party. He lost his seat in 1863, but was reelected in 1869. He was commander of a company of volunteers during the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

. After the war, he again joined the Assembly as Haut-Rhin representative in 1871. He made a stirring speech against the cession of Alsace-Lorraine to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. When the treaty was signed, he left the Assembly with other Alsatians, but was back as representative for

in 1876, and again in 1885.

Works

*''Histoire de France'' (1888) *''L'Encyclique et les libertés de l'église gallicane'' (1860) *''L'Encyclique et les principes de 1789'' (1865) *''Le générale de Lamoricière'' (1873) *''Les congregations religeuses en France'' (1880) These works are written from the Catholic point of view and, for this reason, they were long read and popular in Catholic circles.

Notes

References

* * 1828 births 1909 deaths Writers from Belfort Politicians from Belfort French Roman Catholics Lay Dominicans Legitimists Members of the 2nd Corps législatif of the Second French Empire Members of the 4th Corps législatif of the Second French Empire Members of the National Assembly (1871) Members of the 1st Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Members of the 2nd Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Members of the 4th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Members of Parliament for Haut-Rhin Members of Parliament for Territoire de Belfort French male writers French military personnel of the Franco-Prussian War Place of death missing {{France-nonfiction-writer-stub