Louis Henri Armand Behic (15 January 1809 – 2 March 1891) was a French lawyer, businessman and politician who served as minister of Agriculture, Commerce and Public Works in the government of

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was President of France from 1848 to 1852 and then Emperor of the French from 1852 until his deposition in 1870. He was the first president, second emperor, and last ...

Life

Louis Henri Armand Behic was born in Paris on 15 January 1809. He received a degree in law, and entered the financial administration in 1826. He was attached to the army treasury of the

Invasion of Algiers in 1830 The invasion of Algiers in 1830 was a large-scale military operation by which the Kingdom of France, ruled by Charles X, invaded and conquered the Deylik of Algiers. Algiers was annexed by the Ottoman Empire in 1529 after the capture of Algi ...

. He became inspector of finance in 1845, and after visiting

Corsica Corsica ( , , ; ; ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the Regions of France, 18 regions of France. It is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the Metro ...

and the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

in this role, later in 1845 was appointed director of control and general accounting for the Navy ministry. On 1 August 1846 Behic was elected deputy for

Avesnes Avesnes (, Picard: ''Avinne'') is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France. Geography The commune is a very small village situated some 12 miles (19 km) northeast of Montreuil-sur-Mer, on the D 129 E 1. Population ...

, taking his seat on the center-right. He resigned during the

February Revolution The February Revolution (), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and sometimes as the March Revolution or February Coup was the first of Russian Revolution, two revolutions which took place in Russia ...

of 1848. He was director of the

Vierzon Vierzon () is a Communes of France, commune in the Cher (department), Cher departments of France, department, Centre-Val de Loire, France. Geography A medium-sized town by the banks of the river Cher (river), Cher with some light industry and a ...

iron works until he was elected in the first round to the Council of State in 1849, as a member of the legislation section. After the coup of December and the dissolution of the Council of State, Behic again became director of the Vierzon iron works. In 1853 Behic was made inspector-general of the

Messageries Maritimes ''Messageries Maritimes'' was a French ship transport, merchant shipping company. It was originally created in 1851 as ''Messageries nationales'', later called ''Messageries impériales'', and from 1871, ''Compagnie des messageries maritimes'', ca ...

, in charge of organizing the postal routes, and became director and president of the board of this company. In 1854 he was active in arranging transport for the

Crimean War The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...

. He took over the Société des Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée for the Messageries Maritimes in 1856. He chaired the organizing committee for the colonial banks. He was appointed general counsel of the Bouches-du-Rhône for the canton of La Ciotat. On 23 July 1865 the emperor appointed Behic minister of Agriculture, Commerce and Public Works, replacing

Eugène Rouher Eugène Rouher (30 November 18143 February 1884) was a French statesman of the Second Empire. He was born at Riom (Puy-de-Dôme), where he practised law after taking his degree in Paris in 1835. In 1846 he sought election to the Chamber of ...

. He initiated investigations into the Bank of France, the railway service and the state of agriculture, and promoted health regulations regarding

cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...

. He resigned on 17 January 1867 and three days later was appointed to the senate. On 30 January 1876 Bihac ran for election again, and was returned for the Gironde, taking his seat with the right-wing party lAppel au peuple''. He ran again on 5 January 1879 but was not reelected. Louis Henri Armand Behic died on 2 March 1891 in Paris, aged 82.

References

Citations Sources * {{DEFAULTSORT:Behic, Louis Henri Armand 1809 births 1891 deaths 19th-century French lawyers Ministers of agriculture and commerce of France Ministers of public works of France