Louis Tirman
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Louis Tirman (29 July 1837 – 2 August 1899) was a French lawyer and civil servant who was prefect of several departments, Governor General of
French Algeria French Algeria ( until 1839, then afterwards; unofficially ; ), also known as Colonial Algeria, was the period of History of Algeria, Algerian history when the country was a colony and later an integral part of France. French rule lasted until ...
from 1881 to 1891 and then Senator of Ardennes from 1892 until his death in 1899. He believed in consolidating the French presence in Algeria through support of the ''colons'' (French settlers), and the grant of French nationality to the Algerian-born children of Spanish and Italian settlers.


Life


Family

Louis Tirman was born on 29 July 1837 in Mézières, Ardennes. He came from a prosperous bourgeois Mézières family. His family was Catholic, with liberal traditions. His father was Julien-Victor-Albert Tirman (1800–1862), a doctor and politician, member of the Higher Committee of Public Instruction and the Board of Administration of the Hospice de Mézières. His father was a municipal councilor in Mézières and general councilor for the Mézières from 1853 to 1862. His mother was Charlotte-Victorine Regnault (1812–1844), daughter of a businessman and industrialist from Charleville. Tirman's maternal uncle Antoine Regnault was a militant republican. His cousin Jules Riché( fr) was a Bonapartist deputy from 1852 to 1860, then a member of the Council of State until the end of the Second Empire. The painter
Henriette Tirman Jeanne-Henriette Tirman (9 July 1875 in Charleville-Mézieres ( Ardenne) – 30 October 1952 in Sèvres (Hauts-de-Seine)) was a French woman painter and printmaker. Biography Henriette Tirman was a Post-Impressionist painter, printmaker and ...
(1875–1952) was the daughter of his brother, doctor Charles-Louis-Henry Tirman. On 22 September 1863 he married Marie-Eugénie Donckier de Donceel (1839–1917) in
Philippeville Philippeville (; ) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Namur, Belgium. The Philippeville municipality includes the former municipalities of Fagnolle, Franchimont, Jamagne, Jamiolle, Merlemont, Neuville, Om ...
, Belgium. She brought a large dowry. They had a daughter, Louise (1864–1955). Through inheritance and his salary Firman became a wealthy man in his own right.


Lawyer and administrator (1859–81)

After his secondary education in Mézières and Paris Tirman entered the Faculty of Law in Paris, where he was a friend of
Léon Gambetta Léon Gambetta (; 2 April 1838 – 31 December 1882) was a French lawyer and republican politician who proclaimed the French Third Republic in 1870 and played a prominent role in its early government. Early life and education Born in Cahors, ...
. He obtained his license as a lawyer on 12 November 1859 and his doctorate in law in 1862. He became an advocate in Paris. On 16 August 1863 he was appointed counselor to the Prefecture of Ardennes. On 20 February 1869 Tirman was appointed counselor to the Prefecture of
Seine-et-Marne Seine-et-Marne () is a department in the ÃŽle-de-France region in Northern France. Named after the rivers Seine and Marne, it is the region's largest department with an area of 5,915 square kilometres (2,284 square miles); it roughly covers its ...
. On 17 March 1870 Tirman was appointed secretary-general to the prefecture of Ardennes. 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 ...
of 1870, after the fall of the
Second French Empire The Second French Empire, officially the French Empire, was the government of France from 1852 to 1870. It was established on 2 December 1852 by Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, president of France under the French Second Republic, who proclaimed hi ...
Gambetta named him Prefect of Ardennes on 10 September 1870. Tirman was appointed to replace the prefect, Foy, and was responsible for organizing the defense and administration of the department. The Ardennes were soon fully occupied, but Tirman managed to deploy some troops who put up a courageous resistance. Firman took refuge in
Givet Givet () (; ) is a commune in the Ardennes department in northern France surrounded on three sides by the Belgian border. It lies on the river Meuse where Emperor Charles V built the fortress of Charlemont. It borders the French municipali ...
. On 25 October 1870 he resumed his position as Secretary General of the Prefecture of Ardennes. After the Armistice,
Adolphe Thiers Marie Joseph Louis Adolphe Thiers ( ; ; 15 April 17973 September 1877) was a French statesman and historian who served as President of France from 1871 to 1873. He was the second elected president and the first of the Third French Republic. Thi ...
appointed Tirman Prefect of Ardennes on 6 April 1871. This was a delicate position since the Prussians remained until 1873. He left office on 24 May 1873. On 21 March 1876 he was appointed Prefect of
Puy de Dôme Puy de Dôme (, ) is a lava dome and one of the youngest volcanoes in the region of Massif Central in central France. This chain of volcanoes including numerous cinder cones, lava domes and maars is far from the edge of any tectonic plate. ...
, holding office until 16 May 1877. On 29 December 1877 he was appointed Prefect of
Bouches-du-Rhône Bouches-du-Rhône ( ; , ; ; "the Mouths of the Rhône") is a Departments of France, department in southern France. It borders Vaucluse to the north, Gard to the west and Var (department), Var to the east. The Mediterranean Sea lies to the sout ...
. In 1879 he was appointed to the
Council of State A council of state is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head ...
.


Governor General of Algeria (1881–91)

Tirman was appointed Governor-General of Algeria on 26 November 1881. At this time Algeria was considered a detached part of France rather than a colony, and was administered by a civilian governor. Gambetta appointed Tirman to replace Albert Grévy. On several occasions over the next ten years Tirman addressed the Senate or Chamber of Deputies during debates about Algeria. His achievements in Algeria included creation of many centers of French colonization, construction of roads and railways, houses and schools. The
Crémieux Decree The Crémieux Decree (; ) was a law that granted French citizenship to the majority of the Jewish population in French Algeria (around 35,000), signed by the Government of National Defense on 24 October 1870 during the Franco-Prussian War. It was ...
of 1870 had granted French citizenship to the Algerian Jews. Tirman and the Minister of Justice
Paul Devès Pierre Paul Devès (3 November 1837 – 12 November 1899) was a French politician. He was a deputy from 1876 to 1884, and senator from 1886 until his death in 1899. He was Minister of Agriculture from 1881 to 1882, and Minister of Justice from 188 ...
yielded to antisemitic factions in Algeria and France and resisted extending this decree to cover the protectorate of the
M'zab The M'zab, or Mzab (Mozabite language, Mozabite: ''Aghlan'', ), is a natural region of the northern Sahara Desert in Ghardaïa Province, Algeria. It is located south of Algiers and has approximately 360,000 inhabitants (2005 estimate). Geolog ...
to the south of the original departments of Algeria. In 1884 Tirman reasserted that despite the annexation of the M'zab in 1882, the agreement of 1853 that granted internal autonomy remained in force. At this time the population of foreigners such as Spanish and Italians in Algeria was growing, and would soon exceed that of French. Tirman observed that "Since we no longer have the hope of increasing the French population by means of official colonization, we must seek the remedy in the naturalization of foreigners." On 30 September 1884 Tirman submitted a draft law to the government developed by the Algiers School of Law that proposed to confer French citizenship on any individual born in the colony to foreign parents unless they decided to retain their parent's nationality in the year after obtaining their majority. However, the government rejected a provision that would have guaranteed the ''
jus soli ''Jus soli'' ( or , ), meaning 'right of soil', is the right of anyone born in the territory of a state to nationality or citizenship. ''Jus soli'' was part of the English common law, in contrast to ''jus sanguinis'' ('right of blood') ass ...
''. On 23 May 1885 Tirman made another attempt, proposing a special law for Algeria, but this was also rejected. It was not until 1889 that a law was adopted giving the right of citizenship to children of foreigners, causing an immediate increase in the number of French citizens in Algeria. By 1891 there was growing hostility to Tirman in the Senate for what was called by one senator an "anti-Arabic policy". Tirman was said to have become a tool of the ''colons'' (French settlers). While the ''colons'' paid no land taxes, he had dispossessed the indigenous people and harassed them with taxes, and had done nothing to assimilate them to France, including schooling their children. His proposal to let Algeria become financially autonomous led to his dismissal. In April 1891 Tirman was replaced by
Jules Cambon Jules-Martin Cambon (5 April 1845 – 19 September 1935) was a French diplomat and brother of Paul Cambon. As the ambassador to Germany (1907–1914), he worked hard to secure a friendly détente. He was frustrated by French leaders such as Ray ...
and returned to France. He was named to the Ardennes General Council for the canton of Attigny after his return in 1891. Alexandre Isaac issued a report on 15 March 1898 in which he asked the Algerian committee to end the system of attachment that Albert Grévy( fr) had started in 1881, and that had been expanded by Louis Tirman between then and 1891.


Senator (1892–99)

On 18 December 1892 Tirman was elected Senator of Ardennes in place of Louis Eugène Péronne, who had died. He won in the first round with 478 votes out of 856. He was reelected on 7 January 1894, again in the first round, by 652 votes out of 851. He sat with the Republican Left group. Tirmin was a member of the Colonial group in the Senate. He remained interested in everything to do with Algeria. He was active in the discussion of the report presented by Émile Combes on behalf of the commission to examine legal and administrative changes related to Muslim higher education, and in the debate over Algerian land ownership. Tirman was President of the Ardennes General Council from 1893 to 1898. In 1896 he was named chairman of the board of directors of the
Chemins de fer de Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée The Chemins Company is a dietary supplement manufacturer based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The company, founded in 1974 by James Cameron, became embroiled in a series of criminal investigations in 1994 after a woman died and more than 100 other ...
(PLM), a railway company. Louis Tirman died in office at the age of 62 on 2 August 1899 at the Château des Taboureaux near
La Ferté-Loupière La Ferté-Loupière () is a commune in the Yonne department in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in north-central France. The village is famous for its danse macabre, dating back from the beginning of the 16th century, in the church of Saint-Germain. Se ...
, Yonne. He had been made Officer of 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 ...
on 29 December 1881, Commander on 9 July 1883, Grand Officer on 20 July 1885 and Grand-Croix on 28 April 1891. Tirman was also awarded the Grand-croix of the
Ordre du Nichan El-Anouar A suite, in Western classical music, is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral/concert band pieces. It originated in the late 14th century as a pairing of dance tunes; and grew in scope so that by the early 17th century it comprised up to ...
, Grand Cross of the
Order of the Polar Star The Royal Order of the Polar Star (Swedish language, Swedish: ''Kungliga Nordstjärneorden''), sometimes translated as the Royal Order of the North Star, is a Swedish order of chivalry created by Frederick I of Sweden, King Frederick I on 23 F ...
of Sweden and Grand Cross of the
Order of Saint Stanislaus The Order of Saint Stanislaus (, ), also spelled Stanislas, was a Polish order of knighthood founded in 1765 by King Stanisław August Poniatowski of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It remained under the Congress Poland, Kingdom of Pola ...
of Russia.


Publications

Publications by Tirman included: * * *


Notes


Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tirman, Louis 1837 births 1899 deaths Prefects of France Governors general of Algeria French general councillors Senators of Ardennes (department) People from Charleville-Mézières