Eugène Rouher (30 November 18143 February 1884) was a French statesman of the Second Empire.
He was born at Riom (
Puy-de-Dôme
Puy-de-Dôme (; or ''lo Puèi Domat'') is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in the centre of France. In 2021, it had a population of 662,285.Guizot ministry. It was only after the Revolution of 1848, however, that he became deputy for the department of Puy-de-Dôme. Re-elected to the Legislative Chamber in 1849 he succeeded Odilon Barrot as minister of justice, with the additional office of keeper of the seals (20 December 1848 to 26 October 1851 and 3 December 1851 to 22 January 1852).
From the tribune of the Chamber he described the revolution of February as a "catastrophe," and he supported reactionary legislation, notably the bill (31 May 1850) for the limitation of the suffrage. After the '' coup d'état'' of 2 December 1851, he was entrusted with the redaction of the new constitution, and on his resignation of office in January became vice-president of the Council of State. After the formal establishment of the Empire, Napoleon III rewarded him with a grant of £40,000 and the estate of Cirey.
In 1855 he became minister of agriculture,
commerce
Commerce is the organized Complex system, system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions that directly or indirectly contribute to the smooth, unhindered large-scale exchange (distribution through Financial transaction, transactiona ...
and
public works
Public works are a broad category of infrastructure projects, financed and procured by a government body for recreational, employment, and health and safety uses in the greater community. They include public buildings ( municipal buildings, ...
, and in 1856 senator. He created France's excellent system of railways without making them a state monopoly, and he conducted the complicated negotiations for the treaty of commerce with England which was concluded in January 1860, and subsequently arranged similar treaties with
Belgium
Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
and Italy. On 23 June 1863 he became minister president of the Council of State, and on the death of Adolphe Billault on 18 October 1863 minister of state and chief spokesman of the emperor. before the ''Corps Législatif''.
Although the government had a great majority in the Chamber, the opposition counted the redoubtable names of Adolphe Thiers, Berryer and Jules Favre, and government measures were only passed by frequent resort to the closure. Rouher had to defend Napoleon's foreign adventures as well as the free trade treaties and the extravagances of Baron Haussmann for which he was directly responsible. After an attempted defence of the foreign policy which had aided the aggrandizement of
Prussia
Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...
at the expense of
Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
, Thiers told him in the Chamber that there were "no more blunders left for him to make."
He opposed the abortive Liberal concessions of January 1867, announced in a personal letter from Napoleon III to himself, and resigned with the rest of the cabinet, only to resume office after a short interval as minister of finance from 20 January to 13 November 1867. When concessions became inevitable Rouher, the "''vice-empereur''" resigned to make way after six months' interval for Emile Ollivier. He still fought for reaction in his new office of President of the French Senate from 20 July, to 4 September 1870. After the fall of the Empire he fled to England, but returned to France a year later to work for the fortunes of the prince imperial. After serious disturbances he was elected member for Ajaccio on 11 February 1872, his election being characterized by the prefect of
Corsica
Corsica ( , , ; ; ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the Regions of France, 18 regions of France. It is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the Metro ...
as a regular conspiracy in favour of the Empire.
In the Chamber, where he subsequently represented Riom, he formed the group of the '' Appel au Peuple''. His first speech in the House was the occasion (21 May 1872) of violent attacks by Audiffret-Pasquier and Léon Gambetta.
In the 1876 legislative elections for the Bastia constituency Rouher won 8,790 votes against 4,367 votes for Patrice de Corsi, and was proclaimed elected on 25 February 1876.
The death of the prince imperial in 1879 put an end to the serious chances of the Bonapartists, although Rouher sought to secure the recognition of Prince Napoleon, son of Napoleon's brother
Jerome
Jerome (; ; ; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was an early Christian presbyter, priest, Confessor of the Faith, confessor, theologian, translator, and historian; he is commonly known as Saint Jerome.
He is best known ...
, as heir to the Imperial honours. Rouher lost his reason after a stroke of paralysis in 1883, and died a few months later.
Further reading
*Marquis de Castellane, ''Les Hommes d'État français du XIXe siècle'' (1888), and generally the literature dealing with the Second Empire.
* The life and career of Eugene Rouher were fictionalized by Emile Zola in his 1876 novel '' Son Excellence Eugene Rougon''.