Alfred Daviel (12 June 1800 – 3 March 1856) was a French lawyer and politician who was appointed Minister of Justice in the last cabinet of the

French Second Republic The French Second Republic (french: Deuxième République Française or ), officially the French Republic (), was the republican government of France that existed between 1848 and 1852. It was established in February 1848, with the February Revo ...

Early years

Alfred Daviel came from a respected Norman bourgeois family. He was born on 3 March 1800 in

Évreux Évreux () is a commune in and the capital of the department of Eure, in the French region of Normandy. Geography The city is on the Iton river. Climate History In late Antiquity, the town, attested in the fourth century CE, was named ...

, son of François-Denis-Hyacinthe Daviel, advocate, and Hortense Delaroche. His great-uncle was

Jacques Daviel Jacques Daviel (11 August 1696 – 30 September 1762) was a French ophthalmologist credited with originating the first significant advance in cataract surgery since couching was invented in ancient India. Daviel performed the first extracapsular ...

(1696-1762), the famous oculist and pioneer of cataract operations. Alfred Daviel studied law in Paris, then became an advocate at the court of Rouen in 1821. He was granted a medal worth 300 francs by the Rouen Academy in 1823 for a thesis on the administration of the dukes of Normandy. He was elected president of the bar in Rouen. Daviel mixed with liberal and masonic circles in Rouen. After the

July Revolution The French Revolution of 1830, also known as the July Revolution (french: révolution de Juillet), Second French Revolution, or ("Three Glorious ays), was a second French Revolution after the first in 1789. It led to the overthrow of King ...

of 1830 he was a strong opponent to the restoration, and was decorated for this by the government of King

Louis-Philippe Louis Philippe (6 October 1773 – 26 August 1850) was King of the French from 1830 to 1848, and the penultimate List of French monarchs#House of Orléans, July Monarchy (1830–1848), monarch of France. As Louis Philippe, Duke of Chartres, h ...

. On 3 September 1830

Jacques-Charles Dupont de l'Eure Jacques-Charles Dupont de l'Eure (; 27 February 17673 March 1855) was a French lawyer and statesman. He is best known as the first head of state of the Second Republic, after the collapse of the July Monarchy as a result of the French Revolut ...

, the Minister of Justice, appointed him first Advocate General of Rouen. That year he also became a member of the Rouen municipal council and of the

Seine-Inférieure Seine-Maritime () is a department of France in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the northern coast of France, at the mouth of the Seine, and includes the cities of Rouen and Le Havre. Until 1955 it was named Seine-Infé ...

general council. Opposed to the reactionary position of Moyne, appointed procureur général in 1832, Daviel resigned and went back to the bar in Rouen. He defended political dissidents and writers such as

Armand Carrel Armand Carrel (8 May 1800 – 25 July 1836) was a French journalist and political writer. Early life Jean-Baptiste Nicolas Armand Carrel was born at Rouen. His father was a wealthy merchant, and he received a liberal education at the '' Lyc� ...

. He was again elected president of the Rouen bar in 1843 and 1845.

Second Republic and Second Empire

Daviel was a strong supporter of the Bonaparte regime. The government of

Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte 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 ...

appointed him Prosecutor General of Rouen in February 1850. On 1 November 1851 Daviel was made keeper of the seals and Minister of Justice in place of

Eugène Corbin Eugène Corbin (1800–1874) was a French procureur général (prosecutor-general) and politician. During the French Second Republic (1848–1851) he helped suppress opposition to the government headed by Louis Napoleon. He was appointed Minister ...

, who had refused the appointment. He held office uneventfully until the coup of 2 December 1851, when he returned to his post in Rouen. He was admitted to the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...

in 1850, made an officer in 1852 and commander in 1853. On 19 June 1854 he was made a senator. In 1854 he was made first honorary president of the Imperial Court of Rouen. Alfred Daviel died in Paris on 12 June 1856.

Works

Daviel was the author of several works including: *''Examen de l'ordonnance du 20 novembre 1822, concernant l'Ordre des avocats'' (1822) *''Traité de la législation et de la pratique des cours d'eau'' (1824) *''Lettres (adressées à Me Isambert) sur la liberté individuelle dans l'ancien droit normand'' (1827) *''De la résistance passive (1829)'' *''Recherches sur l'origine de l'ancienne coutume de Normandie'' (1834) *''Commentaire de la loi du 29 avril 1845 sur les irrigations'' (1845)

References

Citations Sources * * * * *

External links

Alfred Daviel
on data.bnf.fr * {{DEFAULTSORT:Daviel, Alfred 1800 births 1856 deaths People from Évreux Politicians from Normandy Bonapartists French Ministers of Justice French senators of the Second Empire 19th-century French lawyers