Premier who formed the cabinet of "Republican Defence" during the Dreyfus affair and passed the Associations Act of 1901
Born in Nantes in 1846, the son of a lawyer who had sat in the Constituent Assembly of 1848, he practised law at Rennes. Elected deputy in 1879, he supported Gambetta, and as minister of the interior under Gambetta and Ferry he secured the legal recognition of trade unions in 1884. He left the Chamber in 1889 to practise at the Paris bar, defending Gustave Eiffel in the Panama trials, and returned in 1894 as senator for the Loire. In June 1899 he formed a coalition cabinet of "Republican Defence" that brought together the socialist Alexandre Millerand and General Galliffet, the repressor of the Commune, and negotiated the pardon of Dreyfus. His cabinet passed social laws limiting working hours and the Associations Act of 1901 restricting religious congregations, and after the Bloc des gauches won the 1902 election he resigned. He died after surgery in 1904.
Also known as: Pierre Marie René Ernest Waldeck-Rousseau
Activities and affiliations
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1879–1904
France state institutionsDeputy and senator for the Loire
Legislature and state representation -
1881–1902
France state institutionsMinister of the Interior
Security, intelligence and policing -
1899–1902
France state institutionsPresident of the Council of MinistersHeads of state and government of FranceMain
Government and administration -
1901–1904
Democratic Republican Alliance
Government and administration
Career Timeline
- 1879–1889Deputy for the Ille-et-Vilaine
- 1881.11–1882.01Minister of the Interior (Gambetta cabinet)
- 1883–1885Minister of the Interior (Ferry cabinet)
- 1894–1904.08.10Senator for the Loire
- 1899.06.22–1902.06.03President of the Council of Ministers and Minister of the Interior