Alexandre Glais-Bizoin
Encyclopedia
Quintin
Quintin is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department of Brittany in northwestern France.-Population:Inhabitants of Quintin are called quintinais.-External links: *...
, Côtes-d'Armor
Côtes-d'Armor
Côtes-d'Armor is a department in the north of Brittany, in northwestern France.-History:Côtes-du-Nord was one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from part of the former province of Brittany. Its name was changed in 1990 to...
- 6 November 1877, Lamballe
Lamballe
Lamballe is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Brittany in northwestern France.It lies on the Gouessant east-southeast of Saint-Brieuc by rail.- History :...
), also known as Glais-Bizoin was an extreme-left French politician during the July Monarchy
July Monarchy
The July Monarchy , officially the Kingdom of France , was a period of liberal constitutional monarchy in France under King Louis-Philippe starting with the July Revolution of 1830 and ending with the Revolution of 1848...
and critic of the First French Empire
First French Empire
The First French Empire , also known as the Greater French Empire or Napoleonic Empire, was the empire of Napoleon I of France...
and the retour des cendres
Retour des cendres
The retour des cendres was the return of the mortal remains of Napoleon I of France from the island of St Helena to France and their burial in the Hôtel des Invalides in Paris in 1840, on the initiative of Adolphe Thiers and King Louis-Philippe.-Previous attempts:In a codicil to his will, written...
.
Biography
Alexandre Glais-Bizoin was born to a rich family from the department of Côtes-du-NordCôtes-d'Armor
Côtes-d'Armor is a department in the north of Brittany, in northwestern France.-History:Côtes-du-Nord was one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from part of the former province of Brittany. Its name was changed in 1990 to...
. He was the grandson of a textiles merchant from Saint-Thélo
Saint-Thélo
Saint-Thélo is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Bretagne in northwestern France.-Population:Inhabitants of Saint-Thélo are called thélossiens.-External links:*...
and the son of Olivier Glais-Bizoin (1742-1801), a textiles merchant and delegate to the National Assembly of France
National Assembly
National Assembly is either a legislature, or the lower house of a bicameral legislature in some countries. The best known National Assembly, and the first legislature to be known by this title, was that established during the French Revolution in 1789, known as the Assemblée nationale...
. Alexandre completed his studies for a law degree, but after becoming a lawyer in 1822 left the bar for politics. Aligning with the left, he fought with the liberals against the House of Bourbon, restored to throne after the fall of the First Empire in 1815.
After the July Revolution
July Revolution
The French Revolution of 1830, also known as the July Revolution or in French, saw the overthrow of King Charles X of France, the French Bourbon monarch, and the ascent of his cousin Louis-Philippe, Duke of Orléans, who himself, after 18 precarious years on the throne, would in turn be overthrown...
of 1830, Glais-Bizoin was named to the general council (conseil général) of Côtes-du-Nord and on July 5, 1831 he was elected delegate to the National Assembly from Loudéac
Loudéac
Loudéac is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Brittany in northwestern France.-A market town:Loudéac is a very pretty market town with many traditional buildings and mediaeval streets to enjoy. The weekly market, which sells the best and freshest of local produce, goes on as it has for...
, a commune in Côtes-du-Nord. He joined the far-left and was repeatedly reelected during the entire reign of Louis Philippe: June 21, 1834; November 4, 1837; March 2, 1839; July 9, 1842; and August 1, 1846.
The Dictionnaire des parlementaires français describes Glais-Bizoin thus: "a determined adversary of the government's policies, he distinguished himself less by his speeches than by his interruptions." He was one of 39 delegates to support the 1832 June Rebellion
June Rebellion
The June Rebellion, or the Paris Uprising of 1832, was an unsuccessful, anti-monarchist insurrection of Parisian Republicans—largely students—from June 5 to June 6, 1832...
, an unsuccessful republican insurrection. He pestered the established powers with questions and critiques, most of all working toward a reduction in taxes on salt and letters and the abolition of required stamps for journals. He opposed the September 1835 laws, which consolidated the power of the July Monarchy and limited certain freedoms. And contrary to most other parliamentarians, he spoke out against the retour des cendres
Retour des cendres
The retour des cendres was the return of the mortal remains of Napoleon I of France from the island of St Helena to France and their burial in the Hôtel des Invalides in Paris in 1840, on the initiative of Adolphe Thiers and King Louis-Philippe.-Previous attempts:In a codicil to his will, written...
, or the repatriation of the remains of Napoleon Bonaparte after his death in 1840. Glais-Bizoin said, "Bonapartist ideas are one of the open wounds of our time; they represent that which is most fatal to the emancipation of peoples, most contrary to the independence of the human spirit."
On the subject of the postal system, Glais-Bizoin is known for having proposed the adoption of a uniform rate for sending a letter, regardless of the distance to the destination. He fought for this reform between 1839 and 1847, and it was finally adopted in 1848. On the other hand, he had little to do with the establishment of postal stamps, beliefs to the contrary notwithstanding.
He supported electoral reform, and took active part in the Campagne des banquets
Campagne des banquets
The Campagne des banquets were political meetings during the July Monarchy in France which destabilized the King of the French Louis-Philippe. The campaign officially took place from 9 July 1847 to 25 December 1847, but in fact continued until the February 1848 Revolution during which the Second...
, which resulted in the overthrow of the Louis Philippe. After having associated himself with those demanding the indictment of François Guizot
François Guizot
François Pierre Guillaume Guizot was a French historian, orator, and statesman. Guizot was a dominant figure in French politics prior to the Revolution of 1848, a conservative liberal who opposed the attempt by King Charles X to usurp legislative power, and worked to sustain a constitutional...
, the last prime minister in the July Monarchy, he rallied to the newly established French Second Republic
French Second Republic
The French Second Republic was the republican government of France between the 1848 Revolution and the coup by Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte which initiated the Second Empire. It officially adopted the motto Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité...
. He was elected to the constituent assembly from the department of Côtes-du-Nord on April 23, 1848.
Toward the end of the French Second Empire in 1869, he was elected a deputy to the national assembly from the Seine, a former department encompassing Paris and its close suburbs. He participated in the Government of National Defense
Government of National Defense
Le Gouvernement de la Défense Nationale, or The Government of National Defence, was the first Government of the Third Republic of France from September 4, 1870, to February 13, 1871, during the Franco-Prussian War, formed after the Emperor Louis Napoleon III was captured by the Prussian army. The...
, the first government of the French Third Republic
French Third Republic
The French Third Republic was the republican government of France from 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed due to the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, to 1940, when France was overrun by Nazi Germany during World War II, resulting in the German and Italian occupations of France...
led by Léon Gambetta
Léon Gambetta
Léon Gambetta was a French statesman prominent after the Franco-Prussian War.-Youth and education:He is said to have inherited his vigour and eloquence from his father, a Genovese grocer who had married a Frenchwoman named Massabie. At the age of fifteen, Gambetta lost the sight of his right eye...
which rose to power after military disaster in the Franco-Prussian War
Franco-Prussian War
The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Prussia was aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and...
caused the collapse of Napoleon III.
In 1868, Glais-Bizoin was one of the founders of the journal La Tribune. He hired Émile Zola
Émile Zola
Émile François Zola was a French writer, the most important exemplar of the literary school of naturalism and an important contributor to the development of theatrical naturalism...
as secretary for the journal in 1870.
He died in 1877 at Saint-Brieuc
Saint-Brieuc
Saint-Brieuc is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Brittany in northwestern France.-History:Saint-Brieuc is named after a Welsh monk Brioc, who evangelized the region in the 6th century and established an oratory there...
, where he had been head of the municipal government since 1870.
Sources
- René Huguen, Glais-Bizoin et le Grand dossier du chemin de fer, édité à compte d'auteur
- Nicolas Verdier, De l'égalité territoriale à la loi sociale, un député obstiné, Alexandre Glais-Bizoin, 1800-1877, Paris, Comité pour l'histoire de la Poste, 2003.
- Nicolas Verdier, « Passer du local au national, ou comment devient-on député sous la Restauration ? », CYBERGEO, Journée à l'EHESS (École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales). Échelles et territoires, Paris, France, 29 avril 2002, article 270 mis en ligne le 10 mai 2004, modifié le 27 avril 2007.