Louis Henri Armand Behic (15 January 1809 – 2 March 1891) was a French lawyer, businessman and politician who served as minister of Agriculture, Commerce and Public Works in the government of

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 ...

Life

Louis Henri Armand Behic was born in Paris on 15 January 1809. He received a degree in law, and entered the financial administration in 1826. He was attached to the army treasury of the

Invasion of Algiers in 1830 The invasion of Algiers in 1830 was a large-scale military operation by which the Kingdom of France, ruled by Charles X, invaded and conquered the Deylik of Algiers. Algiers was annexed by the Ottoman Empire in 1529 after the capture of Algie ...

. He became inspector of finance in 1845, and after visiting

Corsica Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...

and the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

in this role, later in 1845 was appointed director of control and general accounting for the Navy ministry. On 1 August 1846 Behic was elected deputy for

Avesnes Avesnes () is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France. Geography The commune is a very small village situated some 12 miles (19 km) northeast of Montreuil-sur-Mer, on the D 129 E 1. Population See also *Communes of ...

, taking his seat on the center-right. He resigned during the

February Revolution The February Revolution ( rus, Февра́льская револю́ция, r=Fevral'skaya revolyutsiya, p=fʲɪvˈralʲskəjə rʲɪvɐˈlʲutsɨjə), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and somet ...

of 1848. He was director the

Vierzon Vierzon () is a commune in the Cher department, Centre-Val de Loire, France. Geography A medium-sized town by the banks of the river Cher with some light industry and an area of forestry and farming to the north. It is situated some northwest o ...

iron works until he was elected in the first round to the Council of State in 1849, as a member of the legislation section. After the coup of December and the dissolution of the Council of State, Behic again became director of the Vierzon iron works. In 1853 Behic was made inspector-general of the

Messageries Maritimes ''Messageries Maritimes'' was a French merchant shipping company. It was originally created in 1851 as ''Messageries nationales'', later called ''Messageries impériales'', and from 1871, ''Compagnie des messageries maritimes'', casually known as ...

, in charge of organizing the postal routes, and became director and president of the board of this company. In 1854 he was active in arranging transport for the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...

. He took over the Société des Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée for the Messageries Maritimes in 1856. He chaired the organizing committee for the colonial banks. He was appointed general counsel of the Bouches-du-Rhône for the canton of La Ciotat. On 23 July 1865 the emperor appointed Behic minister of Agriculture, Commerce and Public Works, replacing

Eugène Rouher Eugène Rouher (30 November 18143 February 1884) was a French statesman of the Second Empire. He was born at Riom (Puy-de-Dôme), where he practised law after taking his degree in Paris in 1835. In 1846 he sought election to the Chamber of De ...

. He initiated investigations into the Bank of France, the railway service and the state of agriculture, and promoted health regulations regarding

cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...

. He resigned on 17 January 1867 and three days later was appointed to the senate. On 30 January 1876 Bihac ran for election again, and was returned for the Gironde, taking his seat with the right-wing party lAppel au peuple''. He ran again on 5 January 1879 but was not reelected. Louis Henri Armand Behic died on 2 March 1891 in Paris, aged 82.

References

Citations Sources * {{DEFAULTSORT:Behic, Louis Henri Armand 1809 births 1891 deaths 19th-century French lawyers French Ministers of Agriculture and Commerce French Ministers of Public Works