Edme-Armand-Gaston, duc d'Audiffret-Pasquier (21 October 1823, in

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 ...

4 June 1905), known as Gaston Audiffret-Pasquier, was a French politician and member of the

Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

, Seat 16. He was preceded in his position by

Félix Dupanloup Mgr. Félix Antoine Philibert Dupanloup (3 January 180211 October 1878) was a French ecclesiastic. He was among the leaders of Liberal Catholicism in France. Biography Dupanloup was born at Saint-Félix, in Haute-Savoie, an illegitimate son of ...

and succeeded by Alexandre Ribot.

Life

He was the grand-nephew and adopted son of Baron Etienne Denis Pasquier, an academician. He inherited the title of duke in 1844, and became auditor at the council of state in 1846. After the

revolution of 1848 The Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Springtime of the Peoples or the Springtime of Nations, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe starting in 1848. It remains the most widespread revolutionary wave in Europea ...

he retired to private life. Under the Second Empire he was twice an unsuccessful candidate for the legislature, but was elected in February 1871 to the

National Assembly of France The National Assembly (french: link=no, italics=set, Assemblée nationale; ) is the lower house of the bicameral French Parliament under the Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are known a ...

, and became president of the

Centre-right Centre-right politics lean to the Right-wing politics, right of the Left–right politics, political spectrum, but are closer to the Centrism, centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure a ...

parliamentary group in 1873. After the fall of Thiers, Audiffret-Pasquier directed the negotiations between the different royalist parties to establish the

Comte de Chambord Henri, Count of Chambord and Duke of Bordeaux (french: Henri Charles Ferdinand Marie Dieudonné d'Artois, duc de Bordeaux, comte de Chambord; 29 September 1820 – 24 August 1883) was disputedly King of France from 2 to 9 August 1830 as Hen ...

King of France France was ruled by monarchs from the establishment of the Kingdom of West Francia in 843 until the end of the Second French Empire in 1870, with several interruptions. Classical French historiography usually regards Clovis I () as the first ...

, but as Chambord refused to give up the white flag of the Bourbons in favor of the tricolor, the project failed. Yet he retained the confidence of the chamber, and was its president in 1875 when the constitutional laws were being drawn up. Nominated

senator for life A senator for life is a member of the senate or equivalent upper chamber of a legislature who has life tenure. , six Italian senators out of 206, two out of the 41 Burundian senators, one Congolese senator out of 109, and all members of the Bri ...

under the new constitution, he likewise was president of the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

from March 1876 to 1879 when his party lost the majority. Henceforth he was less prominent in politics. Audiffret-Pasquier was distinguished by his moderation and uprightness; and he did his best to dissuade

MacMahon McMahon, also spelled MacMahon (older Irish orthography: ; reformed Irish orthography: ), is a surname of Irish origin. It is derived from the Gaelic ''Mac'' ''Mathghamhna'' meaning 'son of the bear'. The surname came into use around the 11th c ...

from taking violent advisers. In 1878 he was elected to the Académie française, but never published anything.

References

;Attribution * {{DEFAULTSORT:Audiffret-Pasquier, Edme Armand Gaston, duc d 1823 births 1905 deaths Politicians from Paris Orléanists Members of the National Assembly (1871) French life senators Presidents of the Chamber of Deputies (France) Presidents of the Senate (France) Members of the Ligue de la patrie française Collège Stanislas de Paris alumni Members of the Académie Française