Maximilien Charles Alphonse Cerfberr of Medelsheim (20 July 1817, Epinal

Épinal

Épinal is a commune in northeastern France and the capital of the Vosges department. Inhabitants are known as Spinaliens.-Geography:The commune has a land area of 59.24 km²...

—16 December 1883, Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

) was a French journalist, writer and governmental official.

After traveling extensively in Algeria and the East, Cerfberr was attached in 1839 to the penitentiary administration in the Ministry of the Interior. In 1848 he held for a short time the position of commissary of the Republic in the Department of Saône-et-Loire

Saône-et-Loire

Saône-et-Loire is a French department, named after the Saône and the Loire rivers between which it lies.-History:When it was formed during the French Revolution, as of March 4, 1790 in fulfillment of the law of December 22, 1789, the new department combined parts of the provinces of southern...

.

Among Cerfberr's numerous writings the most noteworthy are:

• Projet d'un Etablissement Pénitencier à Paris, 1841
• La Vérité sur les Prisons, 1844
• Le Silence en Prison, Réflexions d'un Condamné, 1847
• Ce Que Sont les Juifs en France, 1843
• Les Juifs, Leurs Histoire, Leurs Mœurs, 1846
• La Guyane, Civilisation et Barbarie, Coutumes et Usages, 1854
• Paraboles, 1854
• La Police d'Assurance, 1867
• L'Epargne par la Dépense, 1867
• Biographie Alsacienne, 1878
• Histoire d'un Village, 1881
• L'Architecture en France, 1883

Cerfberr wrote on several other subjects of less importance; and he translated several works from German into French.