| |
|
|
|
|
| |
DEATH OF BARON OLIVIER GUICHARD, EX-MINISTER, TRUSTEE OF THE FONDATION NAPOLEON
Minister under General Gaulle, Baron Olivier Guichard died on in Paris on Tuesday 20 January, 2004. A member of the Board of Trustees of the Fondation Napoléon since the creation of that institution, he was descended from Colonel Louis Guichard (1772-1837), appointed Baron de l'Empire by Imperial decree in 1808, and Commander of the Légion d'honneur in 1831.
Born in 1920, and having a gained a degree in 'ès lettres' and law, Olivier Guichard
led a political career of which the fixed point was his fidelity to General de Gaulle. In 1947 he joined the Gaullist RPF, where he was Chef de service and later attaché to De Gaulle's political secretariat. When the General returned to power in 1958, he appointed Guichard as deputy director of his office, and later Prefect. Olivier Guichard was also elected Député for Loire-Atlantique in 1967, Conseiller Général of the Guérande in 1970, Mayor of La Baule in 1971, and Regional President three years later. In parallel to his local activities, he also occupied several ministerial posts, notably: Minister for Industry, 1967-1968; Minister for Land development (Plan et Aménagement du territoire), 1968-1969; Minister for Education , 1969-1972; Minister for Housing and Tourism (Equipement, Logement et Tourisme), 1972-1974. He was also State Minister for Land Management (Aménagement du territoire), 1974 and State Minister for Justice, 1976-1977.
Baron Guichard was made Grand officier of the Légion d'honneur by President Jacques Chirac, in July 2002.
The Baron Gourgaud, the trustess and administration of the Fondation Napoléon send their deepest condolences to his wife, children and grandchildren.
THIS MONTH'S ARTICLE
The Emperor's New Clothes and the Death of Napoleon, back to back, by Peter Hicks
Simon Ley's renowned first novel The Death of Napoleon, is a sustained elegy on the wisdom of recognising the important things in life. The film, 'The Emperor's New Clothes', to go out on general release in the UK next Friday, is 'loosely based on the story. This article is a comparison of the two versions, with stills from the film (Courtesy of Pathé).
ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS AGO
31 January, 1854, Urbain-Jean-Joseph le Verrier (1811-1877) was appointed by imperial decree the director of the Observatoire impérial de Paris (The Paris Imperial Observatory).
Le Verrier began his scientific career in the laboratory of the chemist, Gay-Lussac, before entering the Ecole polytechnique as 'répétiteur' (tutor) in geodesy and astronomy (and not in chemistry as he wished). In 1846 he entered the Académie des Sciences. His authoritarian style and haughty manner as head of the observatory soon alienated him from his colleagues and he was relieved of his duties on 6 February, 1870. He was recalled by Thiers in 1873 and remained director of the Observatoire until his death in 1877.
In parallel with his scientific activities, Le Verrier also had a political career: in 1849, he was elected Député of the Département de la Manche at the Assemblée législative. Rallying to the Second Empire, he was appointed Senator in 1852, and subsequently Inspector General of Higher Education.
Le Verrier's work consisted above all in significant mathematical work which led to the elaboration of coherent theories for the movements of the planets; for more than a century his theories served the basis for the calculation of the tables, published annually, of the positions of the sun and the planets. His other initiatives include: the establishment of a network of meteorological observatories in France and elsewhere in Europe; the centralisation and diffusion by telegraph of the information received by these stations; the creation in 1858 of a daily bulletin indicating atmospheric pressure, the temperature, and the direction of the winds recorded at the various stations; the organisation in 1863 of a warning service for ports, and the establishment of a storm observation network.
TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO
4 Pluviôse, An XII (26 January, 1804), birth of the novelist Eugène Sue, in Paris.
Son of a doctor, Sue served as a doctor in the French navy and travelled widely until 1829. From these experiences he took inspiration for the writing of his maritime novels such as La Salamandre (1832), which were exceedingly successful. His serialised novel, Les mystères de Paris (1842-1843), was the first French work in this genre, paving the way for Victor Hugo's Les Misérables, and it gave him the chance to express his (slightly patronising) social ideas, namely: descriptions of poor housing, and working class environments and figures. His work resembles that of Charles Dickens, whom Sue had met in Paris in 1846.
7 Pluviôse, An XII (29 January, 1804), Pichegru and Moreau met secretly at about 9pm not far from the Madeleine. Both had been generals during the Revolution and both were becoming steadily more dissatisfied with the First Consuls policies, notably the Concordat. The leader of armed opposition in the Vendée, Georges Cadoudal, was also in on their plot to kidnap Bonaparte when he was on his way either to Malmaison or to Saint-Cloud.
Député and President of the Council of the Five Hundred in April 1797, Pichegru considered himself at the time the leader of right wing and was preparing a Royalist coup d'etat. Arrested during the 18-Fructidor purge, Pichegru was deported to Guyana, whence he escaped and fled to London. It was there with his accomplice, Cadoudal, that he began plotting again his Royalist coup d'état. Landing in France in January 1804, he was arrested and imprisoned. During his time in prison, Bonaparte offered him the post of Governor of Guyana. Pichegru thought it was a trap and refused. On 6 April, 1804, he was found strangled in his cell.
Wishing you an excellent, Napoleonic, week!
Peter Hicks
Historian and Web editor
|
|
|
|
|
|
THIS WEEK:
Snippets
Spain remembers Moore's retreat from Corunna
What's on
- Lunchtime lecture on the French army during the Crimean War at Britain's National Army Museum
- Conference: The emperor's residences in Italy, Lucca (Italy)
- Conference: Talleyrand, prince of negotiators
- Exhibition: Elisa's Days: the public and private life of a princess, Lucca (Italy)
- Exhibition: Art booty in the Napoleonic period. The "French gift" to Mainz, 1803
The monthly titles
- This month's book: Napoleon Guide, Guides Gallimard
- This month's painting: François I and the queen of Navarre, by Fleury Richard
- This month's article: The Emperor's New Clothes and the Death of Napoleon, back to back by Peter Hicks
- In the Collectors Corner, a leaf from Napoleon's coronation crown
<<
|
|
