Camille Ournac (31 August 1845 – 24 February 1925) was a wine merchant, miller and French politician. In his political life he was member of the
Departmental council, socialist mayor of
Toulouse where he initiated several reforms and improvements to the city. He later became senator for
Haute-Garonne in the
Third French Republic.
Life
Born in Toulouse on 31 August 1845, Camille Ournac, became a wholesale wine merchant, a miller and then Conseil général of
French Departments,
Ournac was the first of a succession of radical socialist mayors of Toulouse who founded the labor exchange and set up the first horse-drawn streetcars in the city. His tenure was from 20 May 1888 until October 1892.
Like his brother Henry, Ournac was a cartoonist, signing his works "Ka-Mill". He was made a knight of the
Legion d'honneur in 1889.
Ournac's son, Jean, died in
Royan age thirty-six on 15 December 1911 while his father, Camille, was 79 years of age when he died on 24 January 1925 in Toulouse.
Mayor of Toulouse
Elected on the list of radical and socialist republican union sponsored by ''
La Dépêche du Midi'', against the republican list where Josef Sirven appeared. He was elected on 15 May 1892, but on 6 October Ournac resigned with his deputies,
Honoré Serres and
Jean Jaurès. He was re-elected on the 9th and resigned a second time.
By a municipal decree of 14 April 1891, under the direction of mayor Ournac
Musée Saint-Raymond
(in English, ''Saint-Raymond museum'') is the archeological museum of Toulouse, opened in 1892. The site originally was a necropolis, and in later constructions was a hospital for the poor and pilgrims, prison, student residence, stables, barrac ...
became a "museum of ancient and exotic
decorative art
]
The decorative arts are arts or crafts whose object is the design and manufacture of objects that are both beautiful and functional. It includes most of the arts making objects for the interiors of buildings, and interior design, but not usual ...
s" in Toulouse and was inaugurated by him on 24 April 1892.
In 1892, Ournac decided to create the Salle des Illustres, a large gallery of works by Toulouse artists in the
Capitole de Toulouse, now used as a reception hall. The state, which was responsible for half of the renovation costs, and the city, contested the list of artists who would participate in the work. The city's choice to use only artists of the school of Toulouse prevailed when this was decided on 20 January 1892.
Artists whose work decorates the hall are
Jean-Paul Laurens
Jean-Paul Laurens (; 28 March 1838 – 23 March 1921) was a French painter and sculptor, and one of the last major exponents of the French Academic style.
Biography
Laurens was born in Fourquevaux and was a pupil of Léon Cogniet and Alexand ...
,
Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant
Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant (also known as Benjamin-Constant), born Jean-Joseph Constant (10 June 1845 – 26 May 1902), was a French painter and etcher best known for his Oriental subjects and portraits.
Biography
Benjamin-Constant was bor ...
,
Jean-André Rixens
Jean-André Rixens (30 November 1846 – 21 February 1925) was a French painter, known for his classical scenes and portraits.
Biography
He was born in Saint-Gaudens. His father was a master shoemaker. After completing his basic education, ...
,
Paul Gervais,
Édouard Debat-Ponsan
Édouard Debat-Ponsan (25 April 1847 – 29 January 1913) was a French academic painter noted for his allegorical works, scenes of peasant life and Orientalist works.
Biography
Debat-Ponsan was born in Toulouse. His younger brother was organis ...
, Henri Rachou Paul Pujol and
Henri-Jean Guillaume Martin.
The painting ''Entrée de Louis XI à Toulouse'' by André Roucolle, a local artist, illustrating
Louis XI's visit to Toulouse in 1463 is the dominant work hanging in the council chamber. Roucolle uses the images of Ournac, along with
Paul Feuga and Ournac's mayoral successor Honoré Serres, as attending figures, because of their involvement in deciding to create the Salle des Illustres using local artist's works.
Also in July 1892, Ournac inaugurated the new
Bourse du Travail in Place Saint-Sernin.
Senator
He was first elected as senator for Haute-Garonne in the
Third Republic on 3 January 1897, and re-elected in the 1906 election, but in 1920 lost his seat.
Ournac joined the
French Democratic Left party and intervened on budgetary issues related to agriculture and was also a member of committees on finance, railways, initiative, local interest, and the economic organization of the nation in time of war.
On 15 October 1915, Ournac introduced a motion protesting the German execution of
Edith Cavell. It passed unanimously in the Senate.
References
;Notes
Original French text
;Citations
{{reflist
Senators of Haute-Garonne
Mayors of Toulouse
Wine merchants
1845 births
1925 deaths