Ferdinand Flocon (1 November 1800 – 15 March 1866) was a French journalist and politician who was one of the founding members of the

Provisional Government A provisional government, also called an interim government, an emergency government, or a transitional government, is an emergency governmental authority set up to manage a political transition generally in the cases of a newly formed state or f ...

at the start 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 Rev ...

in 1848. He was Minister of Agriculture and Commerce for the Executive Commission of 1848. He opposed

Louis Napoleon 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 ...

and was forced into exile in the

Second French Empire The Second French Empire (; officially the French Empire, ), was the 18-year Imperial Bonapartist regime of Napoleon III from 14 January 1852 to 27 October 1870, between the Second and the Third Republic of France. Historians in the 1930 ...

(1852–1870).

Early years

Ferdinand Flocon was born in Paris on 1 November 1800. His father worked for the Chappe telegraph service. Flocon was committed to democracy and the republican movement in France. In the 1820s he was a member of the

Carbonari The Carbonari () was an informal network of secret revolutionary societies active in Italy from about 1800 to 1831. The Italian Carbonari may have further influenced other revolutionary groups in France, Portugal, Spain, Brazil, Uruguay and ...

. Under the

July Monarchy The July Monarchy (french: Monarchie de Juillet), officially the Kingdom of France (french: Royaume de France), was a liberal constitutional monarchy in France under , starting on 26 July 1830, with the July Revolution of 1830, and ending 23 ...

(1830–1848) he belonged to republican secret societies. Flocon became a stenographer and parliamentary reporter for liberal newspapers. He was also a translator and novelist. He was an editor for '' le Courrier français''. Flocon later worked for ''

le Constitutionnel ''Le Constitutionnel'' (, ''The Constitutional'') was a French political and literary newspaper, founded in Paris during the Hundred Days by Joseph Fouché. Originally established in October 1815 as ''The Independent'', it took its current name d ...

'' and then for ''La Tribune''. Flocon joined a group of republicans who prepared to overthrow the monarchy when the king died. ''La Réforme'', founded in 1843, became the organ of this group. It promoted a more assertive line than the moderate republican '' Le National''. The first chief editor was Éléonore-Louis Godefroi Cavaignac. Flocon took over when Cavaignac died in 1845. He published the main articles of the

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

Victor Schœlcher Victor Schœlcher (; 22 July 1804 – 25 December 1893) was a French abolitionist, writer, politician and journalist, best known for his leading role in the abolition of slavery in France in 1848, during the Second Republic. Early life Schœlch ...

in 1846–47. He was not a socialist, but believed in organized labor and the right to work. While he was editor ''La Réforme'' published articles from

Pierre-Joseph Proudhon Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (, , ; 15 January 1809, Besançon – 19 January 1865, Paris) was a French socialist,Landauer, Carl; Landauer, Hilde Stein; Valkenier, Elizabeth Kridl (1979) 959 "The Three Anticapitalistic Movements". ''European Socia ...

Mikhail Bakunin Mikhail Alexandrovich Bakunin (; 1814–1876) was a Russian revolutionary anarchist, socialist and founder of collectivist anarchism. He is considered among the most influential figures of anarchism and a major founder of the revolutionary ...

, Constantin Pecqueur,

Friedrich Engels Friedrich Engels ( ,"Engels"
''

Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

Second Republic

Flocon spoke on

Robespierre Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre (; 6 May 1758 – 28 July 1794) was a French lawyer and statesman who became one of the best-known, influential and controversial figures of the French Revolution. As a member of the Esta ...

's 1793 ''

Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (french: Déclaration des droits de l'homme et du citoyen de 1789, links=no), set by France's National Constituent Assembly in 1789, is a human civil rights document from the French Revolu ...

'' at the banquets held before 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. From his base at ''La Réforme'', Flocon was active during the days of the revolution, organizing and speaking. He became a member of the provisional government after the revolution had succeeded. The positions of power in the Provisional Government were mainly given to moderate republicans, although

Étienne Arago Étienne Vincent Arago (9 February 1802 – 7 March 1892) was a French writer and politician, and co-founder (with Maurice Alhoy) of the newspaper ''Le Figaro''. Early life Arago was born in Perpignan, the youngest of the four Arago brothers. Hi ...

was made Minister of Posts and

Marc Caussidière Marc Caussidière (; 18 May 1808 – 27 January 1861) was a significant personality of the French republican movement of the first half of the nineteenth century. Biography Caussidière was born in Geneva. Employed at Saint-Étienne Sa ...

became Prefect of Police.

Alexandre Martin Alexandre Martin (27 April 1815 – 28 May 1895), nicknamed Albert l'Ouvrier ("Albert the Worker"), was a French socialist statesman of the French Second Republic. He was the first member of the industrial working class to be in French gover ...

("Albert"),

Louis Blanc Louis Jean Joseph Charles Blanc (; ; 29 October 1811 – 6 December 1882) was a French politician and historian. A Socialism, socialist who favored reforms, he called for the creation of cooperatives in order to job guarantee, guarantee employment ...

and Flocon did not get ministerial portfolios, and so had little power. Flocon was able to assist Bakunin with funds for an attempt to stir up a Polish rebellion against the Russians. In April 1848 Flocon was elected a representative for the Seine department in the Constituent Assembly. In this election, only 285 out of 851 of the new deputies had been republicans before the February Revolution, and only six candidates of the radical republicans were elected. They were Flocon, Martin, Blanc, Caussidière,

Ledru-Rollin Alexandre Auguste Ledru-Rollin (; 2 February 1807 – 31 December 1874) was a French lawyer, politician and one of the leaders of the French Revolution of 1848. Youth The grandson of Nicolas Philippe Ledru, the celebrated quack doctor known a ...

and Agricol Perdiguier. Flocon was chosen by the

Executive Committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...

as Minister of Commerce and Agriculture from 11 May to 28 June 1848. Flocon was hostile to the demonstrators in the

June Days Uprising The June Days uprising (french: les journées de Juin) was an uprising staged by French civilians from 22 to 26 June 1848. It was in response to plans to close the National Workshops, created by the Second Republic in order to provide work a ...

(23–26 June 1848). He thought that if the uprising had succeeded it would have paved the way for an autocrat to take charge. He supported the assignment of dictatorial power to General

Louis-Eugène Cavaignac Louis-Eugène Cavaignac (; 15 October 1802 – 28 October 1857) was a French general and politician who served as head of the executive power of France between June and December 1848, during the French Second Republic. Born in Paris to a prom ...

. However, he was not included in the cabinet formed by Cavaignac at the end of June 1848. After he left government, Flocon consistently voted with the left, including voting for an amnesty for the June insurgents. He failed to be reelected to the Legislative Assembly in May 1849. He moved to

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label= Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

, where he edited ''le Démocrate du Rhin'', a bi-lingual newspaper. In July 1849 Flocon ran as candidate for Representative for

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the department of Hérault. In 2018, 290,053 people l ...

, a seat that had been vacated by Ledru-Rollin. He did not campaign actively and was not elected.

Last years

Flocon spoke out against 2 December 1851 coup d'état in which

came to power, and was banished from France. He moved to

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, where he continued to agitate for democracy and worked as a bookseller in

Geneva , neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier , website = https://www.geneve.ch/ Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ...

and Lausanne. Under pressure from the French government, he was placed under house arrest in Zurich, where he lived in poverty. He died on 15 March 1866 in Lausanne.

Works

* * * ''Ballades allemandes''. Translation of the works of

Gottfried August Bürger Gottfried August Bürger (31 December 1747 – 8 June 1794) was a German poet. His ballads were very popular in Germany. His most noted ballad, '' Lenore'', found an audience beyond readers of the German language in an English and Russian a ...

(1827) * * * *

References

Notes Citations Sources * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Flocon, Ferdinand 1800 births 1866 deaths Politicians from Paris The Mountain (1849) politicians French Ministers of Agriculture and Commerce Members of the 1848 Constituent Assembly 19th-century French journalists French male journalists 19th-century French male writers Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery