Severiano de Heredia (8 November 1836 – 9 February 1901) was a Cuban-born

biracial The term multiracial people refers to people who are mixed with two or more races and the term multi-ethnic people refers to people who are of more than one ethnicities. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mul ...

politician, a

freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

, a

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

republican, naturalized as French in 1870, who was president of the municipal council of Paris from 1 August 1879 to 12 February 1880, making him the only native of the American continent who was appointed on relevant post of the

Mayor of Paris The mayor of Paris (, ) is the Chief executive officer, chief executive of Paris, the capital and largest city in France. The officeholder is responsible for the administration and management of the city, submits proposals and recommendations to ...

and the first mayor of African descent of a

Western world The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to various nations and state (polity), states in Western Europe, Northern America, and Australasia; with some debate as to whether those in Eastern Europe and Latin America also const ...

capital. In 1880, he succeeded

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo, vicomte Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romanticism, Romantic author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and politician. His most famous works are the novels ''The Hunchbac ...

in the presidency of the Philotechnical Association. He served 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 ...

from 1881 to 1889 and was briefly

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 ...

for the cabinet of

Maurice Rouvier Maurice Rouvier (; 17 April 1842 – 7 June 1911) was a French statesman of the "Opportunist" faction, who twice served as the Prime Minister of France. He is best known for his financial policies and his unpopular policies designed to avoid a r ...

in 1887, at the time when the

Eiffel Tower The Eiffel Tower ( ; ) is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower from 1887 to 1889. Locally nicknamed "''La dame de fe ...

first started being built, where he planned and oversaw the construction of some of the finest French highways. He is believed to be a cousin of the famous French poet

José-Maria de Heredia José-Maria de Heredia (22 November 1842 – 3 October 1905) was a Cuban-born French Parnassian poet. He was the fifteenth member elected for seat 4 of the Académie française in 1894. Biography Early years Heredia was born at Fortuna Ca ...

Biography

Personal life

Severiano de Heredia was born in

Matanzas Matanzas (Cuban ; ) is the capital of the Cuban province of Matanzas Province, Matanzas. Known for its poets, culture, and Afro-American religions, Afro-Cuban folklore, it is located on the northern shore of the island of Cuba, on the Bay of Mat ...

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

, to Henri de Heredia and mulatta Beatrice Cardenas. Reportedly he was the natural son of his godfather Don Ignacio Heredia y Campuzano-Polanco married to the French Madeleine Godefroy, who adopted him and sent him to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

at the age of 10 for his education, attending the

Lycée Louis-le-Grand The Lycée Louis-le-Grand (), also referred to simply as Louis-le-Grand or by its acronym LLG, is a public Lycée (French secondary school, also known as sixth form college) located on Rue Saint-Jacques (Paris), rue Saint-Jacques in central Par ...

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 ...

. He applied for French citizenship which was granted under the Ministerial Decree of 28 September 1870. He married at Paris, 3 November 1868, Henriette Hanaire, by whom he had a son in 1869, Henri-Ignace, and a daughter, Marcelle, in 1873. His son died in an accident at

Wimereux Wimereux (; ) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France north of Boulogne-sur-Mer, on the banks of the small river Wimereux. The river Slack forms the northern border of the commune and the Englis ...

at the age of twelve and was buried at '' Cimetière des Batignolles'' on 4 September 1882. His daughter studied at the Paris Medical School, became a notable neurophysiologist and formed a team with her husband, the neurophysiologist

Louis Lapicque Louis Édouard Lapicque (1 August 1866 – 6 December 1952) was a French neuroscientist, socialist activist, antiboulangist, dreyfusard and freemason who was very influential in the early 20th century. One of his main contributions was to propos ...

Political career

Upon the death of his godfather in 1848, Severiano de Heredia inherited his wealth and embarked on a career as a poet and literary critic. In 1871, while he was assuming the role of a conciliator, he published a political

essay An essay ( ) is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a Letter (message), letter, a term paper, paper, an article (publishing), article, a pamphlet, and a s ...

entitled "Paix et plébiscite" in which he pleaded for a democratic end to 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 ...

. He entered politics as a radical Republican and was elected in April 1873 to be a member of the City Council of Paris, for the ''Ternes'' and ''Plaine-de-Monceaux'' neighborhoods. In 1879, he was elected president of the municipal council of Paris, and in August 1881 member to the

, where he stayed until he was defeated at the election of 1889 by a Boulangist opponent. On 30 May 1887, he was appointed Minister of Public Works in the government of Maurice Bouvier, until 11 December 1887. On retiring from politics he devoted himself to the history of literature. Severiano de Heredia was also an active

Freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

. Initiated in 1866 in the "Étoile polaire" lodge of Paris, he became Worshipfull Master of his lodge, and then Deputy of

Grand Orient of France The Grand Orient de France (, abbr. GODF) is the oldest and largest of several Freemasonic organizations based in France and is the oldest in Continental Europe (as it was formed out of an older Grand Lodge of France in 1773, and briefly absorbe ...

in 1875, and President of the Masonic Orphanage. Within this framework, Severiano de Heredia took part to the first French Congress for

Women's Rights Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st c ...

in 1878, as a French representative of the intended Committee of Initiative, at the

Masonic Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

Grand Orient.

Legacy

Severiano de Heredia was a radical progressive and a secular-minded freethinker, having fought in favor of public school and continuing education. As a strong advocate for the

separation of church and state The separation of church and state is a philosophical and Jurisprudence, jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the State (polity), state. Conceptually, the term refers to ...

he played a very active role in the struggle for free,

secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin , or or ), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. The origins of secularity can be traced to the Bible itself. The concept was fleshed out through Christian hi ...

and

compulsory education Compulsory education refers to a period of education that is required of all people and is imposed by the government. This education may take place at a registered school or at home or other places. Compulsory school attendance or compulsory sc ...

, professional training and the creation of municipal

libraries A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...

. As an early ecologist, he devoted himself to improving the

electric car An electric car or electric vehicle (EV) is a passenger car, passenger automobile that is propelled by an electric motor, electric traction motor, using electrical energy as the primary source of propulsion. The term normally refers to a p ...

. Some versions claim that his last years were dedicated to work in the development of the electric car, which is why some qualify him as a pioneer of

environmentalism Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of green ideology and politics, ecolog ...

. They also say that in this activity he pledged up to the last weight of his fortune, dying in misery. There are no clear precedents in this regard.

Tribute

Severiano de Heredia died of

meningitis Meningitis is acute or chronic inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, collectively called the meninges. The most common symptoms are fever, intense headache, vomiting and neck stiffness and occasion ...

at his home in Paris, on 9 February 1901. Some one hundred and ten years after his death,

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

Paul Estrade found no remaining public recognition for his career in his thoroughly researched

biography A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or curri ...

. On September 10, 2013, at the initiative of Socialist elected official Lamine Ndaw and with the support of Mayor Bertrand Delanoë, her name was associated with a thoroughfare in the 17th arrondissement, as part of an operation to improve the diversity and parity of outstanding personalities in the public space19. Rue Severiano-de-Heredia is located in the Batignolles district.The Mairie de Paris announced in 2013 that a walkway in the

17th arrondissement of Paris The 17th arrondissement of Paris (''XVIIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, it is referred to as ''le dix-septième'' (; "the seventeenth"). The arrondissement, known as Batignol ...

will be dedicated to de Heredia in the name of equality and diversity. In 2015, a walkway in front of a new building was named rue Severiano de Heredia. In the naming ceremony, the then mayor of Paris,

Anne Hidalgo Ana María "Anne" Hidalgo Aleu (, ; born 19 June 1959) is a Spanish-French politician who has served as Mayor of Paris since 2014, the first woman to hold the office. She is a member of the Socialist Party (France), Socialist Party (PS). Hidalg ...

, spoke:

Works

* ''L'appel au peuple : Paix ou guerre ?'' (1870) * ''Faisons la paix'' (1871) * ''Paix et plébiscite'' (1871) * ''Société des écoles laïques... Appel aux habitants du 17^e arrondissement'' (1873)

Notes and references

Bibliography

* Sabine Faivre d'Arcier: ''Los tres Heredia'' he three Heredia La Habana : Imagen Contemporánea (2012), in Spanish. * Paul Estrade: ''Severiano de Heredia. Ce mulâtre cubain que Paris fit " maire ", et la République, ministre'' everiano de Heredia. This Cuban mulatto that Paris came to be "mayor", and the Republic Minister series: " La boutique de l'histoire ", Les Indes savantes (15 July 2011), in French.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heredia, Severiano de 1836 births 1901 deaths People from Matanzas Black French politicians Republican Union (France) politicians Ministers of transport of France Members of the 3rd Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Members of the 4th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic French abolitionists French Freemasons French pacifists Burials at Batignolles Cemetery 19th-century Cuban politicians Cuban emigrants to France