Biography of Grévy, Jules - Archontology
Grévy, Jules

François-Jules-Paul Grévy

b. 15 Aug 1807, Mont-sous-Vaudrey, Jura [1]
d. 9 Sep 1891, Mont-sous-Vaudrey, Jura

Title: Président de la République française (President of the French Republic)
Term: 30 Jan 1879 - 30 Jan 1886
Chronology: 30 Jan 1879, elected, session of the Assemblée nationale (National Assembly), salle des séances de la Chambre des députés, Palais de Versailles, Versailles [2]
30 Jan 1879, assumed the functions of office, public ceremony, Palais de Versailles, Versailles [3]
Term: 30 Jan 1886 - 2 Dec 1887
Chronology: 28 Dec 1885, elected, session of the Assemblée nationale (National Assembly), salle des séances de la Chambre des députés, Palais de Versailles, Versailles [4]
30 Jan 1886, commencement of term [5]
2 Dec 1887, letter of resignation (dated 1 Dec 1887) communicated to the Chamber of Deputies and to the Senate, acknowledged [6]
Other offices: Président de l'Assemblée nationale [President of the National Assembly] (16 Feb 1871 - 2 Apr 1873) [see details]
Biography:
Attended schools at Poligny and Besançon; studied law at the Collège de l'Arc at Dole, Jura; was admitted to the bar in Paris (1837); participated in political trials during the July Monarchy; after the revolution of 1848, he was appointed commissioner of the Republic for the département of Jura (15 Mar 1848 - 29 Apr 1848); elected to the Assemblée nationale constituante (Constituent National Assembly), representing Jura (1848-1849); served as vice-president of the National Assembly (5 Mar 1849 - 26 May 1849); elected to the Assemblée nationale législative (Legislative National Assembly) (1849-1851); abstained from politics from 1851 until 1868 as one of the opposition figures; returned to practicing law during the Second Empire; elected to fill a vacancy in the Corps législatif (1868-1870); after the fall of Napoléon III elected to the Assemblee nationale (National Assembly) from Jura (1871-1876); president of the National Assembly (16 Feb 1871 - 2 Apr 1873); resigned under the pressure of the monarchists (2 Apr 1873); elected president again (2 Apr 1876), but refused to serve (3 Apr 1873); elected to the Chambre des députés [Chamber of Deputies] (1876-1879); provisional president (8 Mar 1876 - 13 Mar 1876), president (13 Mar 1876 - 30 Jan 1879) of the Chamber of Deputies; following the resignation of Marshal de Mac Mahon, he was elected President of the Republic (30 Jan 1879); favored strong legislature at the expense of weak executive; opposed colonial expansion, but France turned Annam and Tonkin in its protectorate (1883) and sent an expedition to Madagascar (1883-1885); won reelection with overwhelming majority of votes (28 Dec 1885); was forced to resign (2 Dec 1887) because of a scandal over the sale of decorations for the Légion d'Honneur by his son-in-law.
Biographical sources: Bonnières, Robert de. Mémoires d'aujourd'hui. Paris: Ollendorff, 1883. online; Jeambrun, Pierre. Jules Grévy, ou, La République debout. Paris: Tallandier, 1991. online
Elections:

Candidate Vote (30 Jan 1879)
votes cast 713
blank/invalid 43
valid votes 670
absolute majority 336
François-Jules-Paul Grévy 563
Antoine-Eugène-Alfred Chanzy 99
Léon-Michel Gambetta 5
Louis-René-Paul de l'Admirault 1
Henri-Eugène-Philippe-Louis d'Orléans, duc d'Aumale 1
Gaston-Alexandre-Auguste, marquis de Galliffet 1

Candidate Vote (28 Dec 1885)
votes cast 589
blank/invalid 13
valid votes 576
absolute majority 289
François-Jules-Paul Grévy 457
Eugène-Henri Brisson 68
Louis-Charles de Saulces de Freycinet 14
Alexandre-Anatole de La Forge 10
scattered * 27
* Distribution of scattered votes is unofficially reported as follows: "Il y a en plus 27 voix diverses qui se sont ainsi partagées: MM. Le Royer 6, l'amiral de Dompierre d'Hornoy 5, Duclerc 4, Jules Ferry 2, et MM. Léon Say, Floquet, le général Billot, Jules Simon, le maréchal Canrobert, le général Campenon, Pasteur, le duc d'Aumale et Wilson, chacun 1." ("Journal des débats, politiques et littéraires", Édition du matin, 29 Dec 1885, p. 1).
Source of electoral results: JORF, No. 30, 31 Jan 1879, pp. 677-679; Débats parlementaires, Assemblée nationale (supplement to JORF, No. 354, 29 Dec 1885), pp. 1-8.

[1]` Original birth record is preserved in the Archives of the département of Jura, 3E/5519, image 79/276: "Du seizième jour du mois d'août, à deux heures du soir, l'an mil huit cent sept; Acte de naissance de François Jules Pole Grévy, né à Mont-sous-Vaudrey, le quinze de courant, à onze heures du soir, fils de Mr François Hyacinthe Grévy..." Published in: Jeambrun, op. cit., 15-16; Bonnières, op. cit., 79-80.
[2] JORF, No. 30, 31 Jan 1879, pp. 677-679.
[3] JORF, No. 30, 31 Jan 1879, p. 673; Journal des débats, politiques et littéraires, Édition de Paris, 31 Jan 1879, p. (2).
[4] Débats parlementaires, Assemblée nationale (supplement to JORF, No. 354, 29 Dec 1885), pp. 1-8.
[5] The beginning of the second term of Grévy was not marked by any public ceremony.
[6] Débats parlementaires, Sénat (supplement to JORF, No. 329, 3 Dec 1887), p. 969; Débats parlementaires, Chambre des députés (supplement to JORF, No. 329, 3 Dec 1887), pp. 2101-2102.
  Image: photograph by Nadar (c. 1880)