Jules Miot (1809–1883) was a French republican socialist who participated in the

French Revolution of 1848 The French Revolution of 1848 (french: Révolution française de 1848), also known as the February Revolution (), was a brief period of civil unrest in France, in February 1848, that led to the collapse of the July Monarchy and the foundation ...

and in the

Paris Commune The Paris Commune (french: Commune de Paris, ) was a revolutionary government that seized power in Paris, the capital of France, from 18 March to 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard had defended ...

of 1871. He was also a member of the First International.

Life

Jules François Miot was born in Autun on 14 September 1809. He studied medicine and pharmacology in Paris and became a pharmacist at Moulins-Engilbert (Nièvre). As a young man he became involved in republican secret societies. He took part in the

July Revolution The French Revolution of 1830, also known as the July Revolution (french: révolution de Juillet), Second French Revolution, or ("Three Glorious ays), was a second French Revolution after the first in 1789. It led to the overthrow of King ...

of 1830. He participated in the Revolution of 1848 and was elected to the National Assembly on 13 May 1849, where he sat as a radical republican socialist deputy. In 1849 he opposed the election of

Louis Bonaparte Louis Napoléon Bonaparte (born Luigi Buonaparte; 2 September 1778 – 25 July 1846) was a younger brother of Napoleon I, Emperor of the French. He was a monarch in his own right from 1806 to 1810, ruling over the Kingdom of Holland (a French cl ...

to the presidency and condemned Bonaparte's campaign against the Italian revolutionaries. After Bonaparte's ''coup d'état'' of 2 December 1851 (when Bonaparte proclaimed himself emperor

Napoléon III 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 ...

of the Second Empire), Miot was arrested and banished to a penal colony in Algeria. In 1860, an amnesty enabled him to return to France, where he edited the journal ''Le Modéré'' and worked as a pharmacist. He also resumed his clandestine republican activities. He was arrested again in 1862 and sentenced to three years in prison. After his release, Miot went into exile in London, where he joined the First International. In 1871, Napoléon III was captured in the course of the Franco-Prussian War, and on 4 September the Third Republic was proclaimed. Miot returned to Paris, where he helped organise the defence of the besieged city and participated in the

. In February 1871 he was a candidate for the National Assembly but was not elected. On 26 March 1871 he was elected to the Council of the Commune by the nineteenth district (''arrondissement''). He served on the Committee of Education and the Committee of Barricades. On 4 March he proposed the establishment of the Committee of Public Safety, which was accepted by a majority of the Council, over vigorous protests from the minority. After the suppression of the Commune in May, Miot escaped to Switzerland. He was sentenced to death ''in absentia.'' In 1880, a general amnesty for Communards enabled him to return to France. He died on 9 May 1883 in Adamville (Seine).Cp. Robert, A., Bourloton, E., and G. Cougny (ed's), ''Dictionnaire des Parlementaires Français de 1789 à 1889.'' Online at: http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/sycomore/fiche.asp?num_dept=10959. Jules Miot was significant as a link between the Jacobin republicanism that hearkened back to the first

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

and the revolutionary socialist movement of the nineteenth century (along with Charles Delescluze and

Félix Pyat Félix Pyat (4 October 1810 – 3 August 1889) was a French socialist journalist, playwright, politician and a leading figure of the Paris Commune. Biography He was born in Vierzon ( Cher), the son of a Legitimist lawyer. Called to the bar in Pari ...

). He represented the Jacobin minority in the French section of the First International, but played a leading role in the majority of the Council of the Paris Commune. Although he worked closely with the followers of Louis Auguste Blanqui, he was not formally a member of the Blanquist organisation.

Writings

1830: ''Réponse à Deux Libelles.'' 1860: ''L'Heure Suprême de l'Italie.''

Sources

* Aurousseau, H., 'Jules Miot, Pharmacien et Homme Politique.' ''Revue de l'Histoire de la Pharmacie.'' No. 37, September 1938 (Issue 103), pp. 341–349. * Maitron, J. (ed.), ''Dictionnaire Biographique du Mouvement Ouvrier Français.'' Part I, Vol. 3. Paris, 1966, pp. 105–106. * Nöel, B., ''Dictionnaire de la Commune.'' Paris, 1978. * Robert, A., Bourloton, E., and G. Cougny (ed's), ''Dictionnaire des Parlementaires Français de 1789 à 1889.'' Online at: http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/sycomore/fiche.asp?num_dept=10959.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miot, Jules Francois French socialists 1809 births 1883 deaths People from Autun Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery Communards