 |
Paul-Eugène-Louis Deschanel
b. 13 Feb 1855, Schaerbeek-les-Bruxelles, Belgium
d. 28 Apr 1922, Paris, France |
| Title: |
Président de la République française (President of the French Republic) |
| Term: |
18 Feb 1920 - 21 Sep 1920 |
| Chronology: |
17 Jan 1920,
elected, session of the Assemblée nationale (National Assembly), salle des séances de la Chambre des députés, Palais de Versailles, Versailles [1] |
|
18 Feb 1920,
assumed the functions of office, public ceremony, salon des Ambassadeurs, Palais de l'Elysée, Paris [2] |
|
21 Sep 1920, letter of resignation (dated 20 Sep 1920, Rambouillet) communicated to the Chamber of Deputies and to the Senate, acknowledged [3] |
| Biography: |
| Son of author and critic Émile Deschanel, who was deputy (1876-1881) and senator (from 1881); educated at Sainte-Barbe and Lycée Condorcet; received degree in philosophy (1872) and law (1875); started publishing his works in 1875; worked as a secretary to the minister of internal affairs (1876) and to the president of the Council of Ministers (1876-1877); served as sous-préfet of Dreux (1877-1879), general secretary of the Seine-et-Marne département (1879), sous-préfet of Brest (1879-1881) and Meaux (1881); elected to the Chambre des députés (Chamber of Deputies) from the Eure-et-Loir département (1885-1920); took a seat with the progressive republicans, concentrated on social problems and foreign affairs; elected to the Académie Française (18 May 1899); wrote books on politics and literature; served as Vice President of the Chamber of Deputies (1896-1898) and two terms as President of the Chamber of Deputies (9 Jun 1898 - 31 May 1902; 23 May 1912 - 10 Feb 1920); was a candidate at the presidential elections of 1913, but lost to Raymond Poincaré; elected President of the Republic (17 Jan 1920); deteriorating health forced him to announce his forthcoming resignation after only seven months in office (17 Sep 1920); formal resignation was presented to the Sénat and Chamber of Deputies on 21 Sep 1920; elected to the Sénat (1921-1922) from Eure-et-Loir; chaired the Sénat committee for external affairs (1922). |
| Biographical sources: "Paul Deschanel", by Thierry Billard (Paris:, Pierre Belfond, 1991); Dictionnaire des parlementaires français 1789-1889, 2:350-351; Dictionnaire des parlementaires français 1889-1940, 4:1406-1409. |
| Elections: |
| Candidate |
Vote (17 Jan 1920) |
| votes cast |
888 * |
| blank/invalid |
20 |
| valid votes |
868 |
| absolute majority |
435 |
| Paul-Eugène-Louis Deschanel |
734 |
|
| * No scattered votes are included in official account. Other votes are reported to have been cast for Jonnart (64), Clemenceau (53), Poincaré (8), Bourgeois (6), Foch (2), Sadoul (1) in Journal des débats, politiques et littéraires, No. 18, 19 Jan 1920, p. 1. |
| Source for election results: Débats parlementaires, Assemblée nationale (supplement to JORF, No. 17, 18 Jan 1920), pp. 1-4. |
| |
| [1] |
Débats parlementaires, Assemblée nationale (supplement to JORF, No. 17, 18 Jan 1920), pp. 1-4. |
| [2] |
JORF, No. 17, 19 Feb 1920, pp. 2741-2742; Le Temps, No. 21388, 19 Feb 1920, p. 4. |
| [3] |
Débats parlementaires, Sénat (supplement to JORF, No. 259, 22 Sep 1920), pp. 1719-1720; Débats parlementaires, Chambre des députés (supplement to JORF, No. 259, 22 Sep 1920), pp. 3145-3146. |
