Arthur Ranc (20 December 183110 August 1908) was a French left-wing politician and writer. Born in

Poitiers Poitiers (, , , ; Poitevin: ''Poetàe'') is a city on the River Clain in west-central France. It is a commune and the capital of the Vienne department and the historical centre of Poitou. In 2017 it had a population of 88,291. Its agglomerat ...

Vienne Vienne (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Viéne'') is a landlocked department in the French region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It takes its name from the river Vienne. It had a population of 438,435 in 2019.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 ...

in 1853, he was acquitted, but shortly afterwards was imprisoned for belonging to a secret society; for his share in anti-imperialist conspiracies in 1855 he was arrested and deported to

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

without a trial. The amnesty of 1859 permitted him to return to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, where he soon drew the attention of the police to his presence by his violent articles. During the siege of Paris he left the city in a

balloon A balloon is a flexible bag that can be inflated with a gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, and air. For special tasks, balloons can be filled with smoke, liquid water, granular media (e.g. sand, flour or rice), or light so ...

and joined Gambetta, for whom he organized a system of spies through which

General Trochu Louis-Jules Trochu (; 12 March 18157 October 1896) was a French military leader and politician. He served as President of the Government of National Defense—France's ''de facto'' head of state—from 4 September 1870 until his resignation on 2 ...

was kept informed of the strength and disposition of the

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

ns around Paris. He was elected to the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

in February 1871, but resigned rather than subscribe to the peace. He had been elected mayor of the

9th arrondissement of Paris The 9th arrondissement of Paris (''IXe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is referred to as the neuvième (; "ninth"). The arrondissement, called Opéra, is loc ...

in the autumn of 1870, and in March was sent by the same district to the

Commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

, from which he resigned when he found no reconciliation was possible between the mayors and the Commune. In July he became a member of the municipal council of Paris, and in 1873 was returned to the National Assembly for the department of the Rhône, and took his place on the extreme Left. A month after his election the governor of Paris demanded his prosecution for his share in the Commune. The claim being granted by a large majority, he escaped to

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, where he issued a pamphlet defending his action during the Commune. On his failure to appear before the court he was condemned to death, and remained in Belgium until 1879, when he was included in the amnesty proclaimed by Grevy. During his exile he continued his active collaboration in ''La Republique francaise''. In 1873 he fought a duel with

Paul de Cassagnac Paul Adolphe Marie Prosper Granier de Cassagnac (1843, Paris1904, Saint-Viâtre) was the son of Adolphe Granier de Cassagnac and Rosa de Beaupin de Beauvalon, and while still young associated with his father in both politics and journalism. In 1 ...

, and he acted as second to

Georges Clemenceau Georges Benjamin Clemenceau (, also , ; 28 September 1841 – 24 November 1929) was a French statesman who served as Prime Minister of France from 1906 to 1909 and again from 1917 until 1920. A key figure of the Independent Radicals, he was a ...

more than once. He energetically defended the republic against the

Boulangist Georges Ernest Jean-Marie Boulanger (29 April 1837 – 30 September 1891), nicknamed Général Revanche ("General Revenge"), was a French general and politician. An enormously popular public figure during the second decade of the Third Repub ...

agitation, and took an equally courageous part in the

Dreyfus affair The Dreyfus affair (french: affaire Dreyfus, ) was a political scandal that divided the French Third Republic from 1894 until its resolution in 1906. "L'Affaire", as it is known in French, has come to symbolise modern injustice in the Francop ...

. In the Picquart-Henry duel he was second to Colonel Picquart. He succeeded Clemenceau as editor of the ''Aurore'', in which

Zola Zola may refer to: People * Zola (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * Zola (musician) (born 1977), South African entertainer * Zola (rapper), French rapper * Émile Zola, a major nineteenth-century French writer Plac ...

's open letter ''

J'Accuse…! "''J'Accuse...!''" (; "I Accuse...!") is an open letter that was published on 13 January 1898 in the newspaper ''L'Aurore'' by Émile Zola in response to the Dreyfus affair. Zola addressed President of France Félix Faure and accused his govern ...

'' had appeared, and was president of the

Association of Republican Journalists Association may refer to: *Club (organization), an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal *Trade association, an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry *Voluntary associatio ...

. In 1903 he became senator for

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 died in August 1908. In addition to his purely political writings, Arthur Ranc published political novels of the

Second Empire Second Empire may refer to: * Second British Empire, used by some historians to describe the British Empire after 1783 * Second Bulgarian Empire (1185–1396) * Second French Empire (1852–1870) ** Second Empire architecture, an architectural styl ...

, ''Sous l'empire'' (1872) and ''Le roman d'une conspiration'' (1868).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ranc, Arthur 1831 births 1908 deaths People from Poitiers People of the Paris Commune French male writers Senators of Seine (department) Senators of Corsica