Events from the year 1861 in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Incumbents

Monarch A monarch is a head of stateWebster's II New College DictionarMonarch Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. Life tenure, for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority ...

–

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...

Events

*News of

Henri Mouhot Alexandre Henri Mouhot (May 15, 1826 — November 10, 1861) was a French naturalist and explorer of the mid-19th century. He was born in Montbéliard, Doubs, France, near the Swiss border, but spent his childhood in Russia and, possibly, parts ...

's discovery of

Angkor Wat Angkor Wat (; km, អង្គរវត្ត, "City/Capital of Temples") is a temple complex in Cambodia and is the largest religious monument in the world, on a site measuring . Originally constructed as a Hinduism, Hindu temple dedicated ...

is published.

Births

*15 February -

Charles Édouard Guillaume Charles Édouard Guillaume (15 February 1861, in Fleurier, Switzerland – 13 May 1938, in Sèvres, France) was a Swiss physicist who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1920 in recognition of the service he had rendered to precision measuremen ...

, physicist, awarded

Nobel Prize in Physics ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then " ...

in 1920 (died

1938 Events January * January 1 ** The Constitution of Estonia#Third Constitution (de facto 1938–1940, de jure 1938–1992), new constitution of Estonia enters into force, which many consider to be the ending of the Era of Silence and the a ...

) *21 February -

Pierre de Bréville Pierre Eugène Onfroy de Bréville (21 February 1861 – 24 September 1949) was a French composer. Biography Pierre de Bréville was born in Bar-le-Duc, Meuse (department), Meuse. Following the wishes of his parents, he studied law with the goal ...

, composer (died

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2022. * January 2 – Luis ...

) *30 October -

Antoine Bourdelle Antoine Bourdelle (30 October 1861 – 1 October 1929), born Émile Antoine Bordelles, was an influential and prolific French sculptor and teacher. He was a student of Auguste Rodin, a teacher of Giacometti and Henri Matisse, and an important fi ...

, sculptor (died

1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...

) *2 November -

Maurice Blondel Maurice Blondel (; 2 November 1861 – 4 June 1949) was a French philosopher, whose most influential works, notably ''L'Action'', aimed at establishing the correct relationship between autonomous philosophical reasoning and Christian belief. Bi ...

, philosopher (died

) *8 December **

Aristide Maillol Aristide Joseph Bonaventure Maillol (; December 8, 1861 – September 27, 1944) was a French sculptor, painter, and printmaker.Le Normand-Romain, Antoinette . "Maillol, Aristide". ''Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online''. Oxford University P ...

, sculptor (died

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command French Army B, part of the Sixth United States Army Group in Nor ...

) **

Georges Méliès Marie-Georges-Jean Méliès (; ; 8 December 1861 – 21 January 1938) was a French illusionist, actor, and film director. He led many technical and narrative developments in the earliest days of cinema. Méliès was well known for the use of ...

, filmmaker (died

) *16 December -

Antonio de La Gandara Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular mal ...

, painter and draughtsman (died 1917)

Full date unknown

Jacques Émile Blanche Ancient and noble French family names, Jacques, Jacq, or James are believed to originate from the Middle Ages in the historic northwest Brittany region in France, and have since spread around the world over the centuries. To date, there are over ...

, painter (died

1942 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Declaration by United Nations is signed by China, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union, and 22 other nations, in wh ...

)

Deaths

*5 February -

Pierre Bosquet Pierre François Joseph Bosquet (8 November 18105 February 1861) was a French Army general. He served during the French conquest of Algeria and in the Crimean War of 1853-1856; returning from Crimea he was made a Marshal of France and a Senator ...

Marshal of France Marshal of France (french: Maréchal de France, plural ') is a French military distinction, rather than a military rank, that is awarded to generals for exceptional achievements. The title has been awarded since 1185, though briefly abolished (1 ...

(born 1810) *10 April -

Édouard Ménétries Édouard Ménétries (Paris, France, 2 October 1802 – St. Petersburg, Imperial Russia, 10 April 1861) was a French entomologist, zoologist, and herpetologist. He is best known as the founder of the Russian Entomological Society. Ménétries w ...

, entomologist (born 1802) *14 July -

Frédéric de Lafresnaye Baron Nöel Frédéric Armand André de Lafresnaye (24 July 1783 – 14 July 1861) was a French ornithologist and collector. Lafresnaye was born into an aristocratic family at Chateau de La Fresnaye in Falaise, Calvados, Falaise, Normandy. He ...

, ornithologist (born 1783) *24 August -

Pierre Berthier Pierre Berthier (; 3 July 1782, Nemours, Seine-et-Marne – 24 August 1861) was a French geologist and mining engineer. Pierre Berthier was born in Nemours. After studying at the École Polytechnique, he went to the École des Mines, where he b ...

, geologist and mining engineer (born

1782 Events January–March * January 7 – The first American commercial bank (Bank of North America) opens. * January 15 – Superintendent of Finance Robert Morris goes before the United States Congress to recommend establish ...

) *22 September - Rose Chéri, actress (born 1824) *10 November -

, naturalist and explorer (born

1826 Events January–March * January 15 – The French newspaper ''Le Figaro'' begins publication in Paris, initially as a weekly. * January 30 – The Menai Suspension Bridge, built by engineer Thomas Telford, is opened between the island o ...

) *10 November -

Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire (16 December 1805 – 10 November 1861) was a French zoologist and an authority on deviation from normal structure. In 1854 he coined the term ''éthologie'' (ethology). Biography He was born in Paris, the son ...

, zoologist (born 1805) *15 November - David Carcassonne, physician (born

1789 Events January–March * January – Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès publishes the pamphlet ''What Is the Third Estate?'' ('), influential on the French Revolution. * January 7 – The 1788-89 United States presidential election a ...

) *20 November -

Pierre Frédéric Sarrus Pierre Frédéric Sarrus (; 10 March 1798, Saint-Affrique – 20 November 1861) was a French mathematician. Sarrus was a professor at the University of Strasbourg, France (1826–1856) and a member of the French Academy of Sciences in Paris (18 ...

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

(born

1798 Events January–June * January – Eli Whitney contracts with the U.S. federal government for 10,000 muskets, which he produces with interchangeable parts. * January 4 – Constantine Hangerli enters Bucharest, as Prince of Wa ...

) *21 November -

Jean-Baptiste Henri Lacordaire Jean-Baptiste Henri-Dominique Lacordaire (12 May 1802 – 21 November 1861), often styled Henri-Dominique Lacordaire, was a French ecclesiastic, preacher, journalist, theologian and political activist. He re-established the Dominican Order in p ...

, ecclesiastic, preacher, journalist and political activist (born 1802)

Full date unknown

* Hippolyte André Jean Baptiste Chélard, composer, violinist and conductor (born

) * Marie-Alfred de Suin, French vice-admiral and commander (born 1796)

References

{{Year in Europe, 1861 1860s in France