Abel Jules Édouard Ferry (26 May 1881 – 15 September 1918) was a French politician and soldier.

Life

Ferry was born in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, the son of Senator Charles Ferry and nephew of

Jules Ferry Jules François Camille Ferry (; 5 April 183217 March 1893) was a French statesman and republican philosopher. He was one of the leaders of the Opportunist Republicans, Moderate Republicans and served as Prime Minister of France from 1880 to 18 ...

, Abel continued the family tradition when he was elected in 1909 to represent the

Vosges The Vosges ( , ; ; Franconian and ) is a range of medium mountains in Eastern France, near its border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the border, they form a single geomorphological unit and ...

department in the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

. Ferry served as Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs from 13 June 1914 to 29 October 1915 in the first and second governments of

René Viviani Jean Raphaël Adrien René Viviani (; 8 November 18637 September 1925) was a French politician of the Third Republic, who served as Prime Minister for the first year of World War I. He was born in Sidi Bel Abbès, in French Algeria. In France ...

. He was instrumental in moving the bulk of French troops in Morocco to the home front, where they played a decisive role during the

First Battle of the Marne The First Battle of the Marne or known in France as the Miracle on the Marne () was a battle of the First World War fought from the 5th to the 12th September 1914. The German army invaded France with a plan for winning the war in 40 days by oc ...

. During the same period, he served on the frontlines in the infantry with distinction, as did a number of other French parliamentarians. Ferry's diaries, published as ''Carnets secrets 1914-1918'', are a valuable source on relations between the French government and its generals during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Ferry was an early and trenchant critic of army commander

Joseph Joffre Joseph Jacques Césaire Joffre , (; 12 January 1852 – 3 January 1931) was a French general who served as Commander-in-Chief of French forces on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front from the start of World War I until the end of 19 ...

. Ferry was a key figure in the Army Commission of the Chamber of Deputies, regularly visiting the armies in the field and reporting back to the Chamber. He was mortally wounded by shellfire while visiting the

Aisne Aisne ( , ; ; ) is a French departments of France, department in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France. It is named after the river Aisne (river), Aisne. In 2020, it had a population of 529,374. Geography The department borders No ...

front on 8 September 1918 and died a week later. In the meantime, Prime Minister

Georges Clemenceau Georges Benjamin Clemenceau (28 September 1841 – 24 November 1929) was a French statesman who was Prime Minister of France from 1906 to 1909 and again from 1917 until 1920. A physician turned journalist, he played a central role in the poli ...

visited Ferry at Jaulzy, in the

first aid room First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

where he had been undergoing surgery, to award him the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

Family

His wife Hélène was instrumental in the posthumous publication of Ferry's ''Carnets secrets'' in 1957. His daughter born shortly before his death, , named after Ferry's battlefield experience at

Fresnes-en-Woëvre Fresnes-en-Woëvre (, literally ''Fresnes in Woëvre'') is a commune in the Meuse department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. See also *Communes of the Meuse department *Parc naturel régional de Lorraine Lorraine Regional Natural Par ...

, was a historian who ensured the preservation of the family’s archives. Her son from marriage with politician

Edgard Pisani Edgard Edouard Pisani (; 9 October 1918 – 20 June 2016) was a French statesman, philosopher, and writer. He was a European Commissioner and Member of the European Parliament. Biography Pisani was born in Tunis, French Tunisia, of French par ...

, and grandson of Abel,

Jean Pisani-Ferry Jean Pisani-Ferry (born July 28, 1951) is a French economist and public policy expert. He is a fellow at think tanks Bruegel in Brussels and the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington, D.C. He is also a senior professor in ...

, is a prominent French economist.

Posthumous works

* ''La Guerre vue d'en bas et d'en haut, lettres, notes, discours et rapports par Abel Ferry.'' Grasset, Paris, 1920. * ''Carnets secrets 1914–1918.'' Introduction by Nicholas Offenstadt, edited by André Loez. Grasset, Paris, 2005.

References

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ferry, Abel 1881 births 1918 deaths Politicians from Paris Independent Radical politicians Secretaries of state of France Members of the 9th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Members of the 10th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Members of the 11th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic French military personnel killed in World War I