Félix Faure
Félix François Faure was President of France from 1895 until his death in 1899. A native of Paris, he worked as a tanner in his younger years. Faure became a member of the Chamber of Deputies for Seine-Inférieure in 1881. He rose to prominence in national politics up until unexpectedly assuming the presidency, during which time France's relations with Russia improved.
According to David Bell, Felix Faure was born in Paris and moved to Le Havre where he became a successful shipowner. He moved up from local politics and was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 1881. He started as a junior minister and became minister for marine and colonies. He was elected seventh president of the Third Republic in 1895 and died in office in 1899.
Biography
Félix François Faure was born in Paris, the son of a maker of small furniture pieces Jean-Marie Faure and his first wife, Rose Cuissard.Having started as a tanner and merchant at Le Havre, Faure acquired considerable wealth, was elected to the National Assembly on 21 August 1881, and took his seat as a member of the Left, interesting himself chiefly in matters concerning economics, railways and the navy. Having remarked himself as an able politician and administrator whilst in the Chamber of Deputies, he was made under-secretary for the colonies in Ferry's ministry in November 1882, and retained that post till 1885. During this period, he would maintain friendly relations with the minister of the navy, and was able to obtain a significant degree of initiative. He held the same post in Tirard's ministry in 1888, and in 1893 was made vice-president of the chamber.
In 1894, he obtained cabinet rank as minister of marine in the administration of Charles Dupuy. In the following January, he was unexpectedly elected President of the Republic upon the resignation of President Casimir-Perier. The principal cause of his elevation was the determination of the various sections of the moderate republican party to exclude Henri Brisson, who had had a plurality of votes on the first ballot, but had failed to obtain an absolute majority. To accomplish this end, it was necessary to unite the party, and such unity could be secured only by the nomination of someone who offended no one. Faure answered this description exactly.
He granted amnesty to the anarchist movements in 1895, enabling the return from exile in England of several famous anarchists, such as Émile Pouget.
In 1898, the French automobile industry was the largest in the world. President Faure was not impressed. Invited to address industry leaders at what, in retrospect, is recorded as the first Paris Motor Show, Faure told his audience, "Your cars are very ugly and they smell very bad".
His fine presence and his tact on ceremonial occasions rendered the state some service when he received the Tsar at Paris in 1896, and in 1897 returned his visit, after which meeting the Franco-Russian Alliance was publicly announced again. The latter days of Faure's presidency were consumed by the Dreyfus affair, which he was determined to regard as chose jugée. This drew against him the criticism of pro-Dreyfus intellectuals and politicians, such as Émile Zola and Georges Clemenceau.
Freemasonry
Félix Faure was initiated in Le Havre, at "L'aménité", a lodge of Grand Orient de France, on 25 October 1865.In popular culture
The French barque Président Felix Faure, named for the President, was involved in a 1908 case of shipwreck at the Antipodes Islands, south of New Zealand, the survivors being stranded for sixty days before being rescued.Faure's liaison with Marguerite Steinheil was the subject of the film The President's Mistress broadcast on Eurochannel, with Cristiana Reali in Steinheil's role, and was referenced in the opening episode of the television series, Paris Police 1900, with Évelyne Brochu as Steinheil.