Mayor of besieged Paris nicknamed “Ferry-Famine”, later the prime minister of secular schooling and colonial expansion
Born in 1832 into a family of lawyers in the Vosges, he was called to the Paris bar and made his name attacking Baron Haussmann in Le Temps. Elected a republican deputy for Paris in 1869, he protested against the declaration of war; on 6 September 1870 the Government of National Defence made him prefect of the Seine, and from 15 November, as mayor of Paris, he was responsible for feeding the besieged capital, which earned him the nickname “Ferry-Famine”. On the first day of the Commune rising, 18 March 1871, he fled the city, having urged Thiers to use force. A leader of the Opportunist Republicans, he was prime minister in 1880–1881 and 1883–1885, passed the laws that made primary education free, secular and compulsory, and drove the protectorate over Tunisia and the conquest of Tonkin, until the retreat from Lạng Sơn brought him down in 1885.
Also known as: Jules François Camille Ferry
Activities and affiliations
Career Timeline
- 1869Republican deputy for Paris
- 1870Prefect of the Seine and mayor of Paris under the Government of National Defence
- 1879–1885Minister of education and of foreign affairs
- 1880–1881Prime minister
- 1883–1885Prime minister