Jacques Peirotes (1869, Strasbourg - 1935) was a French and German

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

, mayor of Strasbourg from 1919 to 1929.

Biography

The young Jacques Peirotes, son of a carpenter working at the locomotives factory of Graffenstaden, learned the job of typographer while entering into politics. Since 1900, he was editor of the '' Freie Presse'' (''Free Press'') that was an organ of the Strasbourg branch of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Fo ...

which he joined in 1895. In 1902, he became its political manager. In 1913, the newspaper was printed in 9,500 units. He came into the town council of Strasbourg in 1902 and was elected councilor of the southern canton of the ''Kreis Straßburg (Stadt)'' in 1903. He also was deputy in the second chamber of the

Landtag A Landtag (State Diet) is generally the legislative assembly or parliament of a federated state or other subnational self-governing entity in German-speaking nations. It is usually a unicameral assembly exercising legislative competence in non ...

of the ''Reichsland Elsass-Lothringen'' from 1911 to 1918 and deputy of Colmar in the Reichstag in 1912. When the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

broke out, he was exiled by German authorities to

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

and designated as ''Banned from Alsace''. He then published his political manifesto ''Neutral oder Französisch'' (''Neutral or French''). When he came back at the end of the war, he had the skill to neutralize the soldiers and workers councils. He sat as president of the Municipal Commission of Strasbourg from November 10–29, 1918. On November 10, 1918 he proclaimed the forfeiture of the German Empire and the advent of the French Republic. He asked to the French authorities to hasten the troops arrival which ended the Socialist revolution taking place.Jacques Fortier, ''L'Alsace dans la Grande Guerre – La chute de l'Empire – La journée des deux Républiques'', ''

Les Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace ''Les Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace'', commonly known as ''DNA'', is a regional daily French newspaper covering the Alsace region. History and profile ''DNA'' was created in November 1877 as ''Neueste Nachrichten'' by German Heinrich Ludwig Kays ...

'', 16 November 2008
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Translation of the end ::
" ..the 10th in Strasbourg, one of the insurrectionists ..proclaims the Republic of Alsace-Lorraine .. The same day, the socialist Jacques Peirotes, elected mayor of Strasbourg, also proclaim the Republic in front of the statue of the general Kléber. The 11th, the low room of the Landtag sets up as National Council and invest Eugène Ricklin as chief of government, replaced as soon as the day after by Peirotes. The 13th, the red flag flutters over the cathedral. Epic debates oppose the councils of soldiers and workers to the elected officials in a confused atmosphere. Solicited by the anxious notables, the French troops then decide to advance their arrival ..." Elected mayor of Strasbourg in 1919 and reelected in 1925, he created a 'municipal office for cheap accommodations' which built 3,000 social apartments in ten years. He was beaten in the 1929 election by a coalition of

communists Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

and autonomists that led

Charles Hueber Charles Louis Hueber (21 August 1883 – 18 August 1943) was an Alsatian politician. He was the mayor of Strasbourg between 1929 and 1935, and a member of the French National Assembly twice.Charles, Louis HUEBER (1883 - 1943)' Hueber became invo ...

to the town hall. A street was later named after him in the Swiss quarter of Strasbourg (Krutenau).

Footnotes

Bibliography

* Jean-Claude Richez, Léon Strauss, François Igersheim, Stéphane Jonas, ''1869-1935, Jacques Peirotes et le socialisme en Alsace'', BF Éditions, Strasbourg, 1989, 220 p
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: Danièle Voldman, ''Vingtième Siècle – Revue d'histoire'', 1990, Nr 1, p. 135.

Sources

This article is a translation of the similar article in the French Wikipedia. {{DEFAULTSORT:Peirotes, Jacques 1869 births 1935 deaths Social Democratic Party of Germany politicians French Section of the Workers' International politicians Members of the 13th Reichstag of the German Empire Members of the 13th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Members of the 14th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Mayors of Strasbourg Political history of France