Jules Pams (14 August 1852 – 12 May 1930) was a French politician who was a deputy from 1893 to 1904, then a senator from 1904 to 1930. He was Minister of Agriculture from 1911 to 1913 and Minister of the Interior from 1917 to 1920. In 1913 he was a candidate for the presidency of France. He is known for the "Hôtel Pams", a mansion in

Perpignan Perpignan (, , ; ca, Perpinyà ; es, Perpiñán ; it, Perpignano ) is the prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France, in the heart of the plain of Roussillon, at the foot of the Pyrenees a few kilometres from the ...

that was redesigned and decorated to his taste, and is now a conference center.

Early years

Jules Pams was born on 14 August 1852 in

, Pyrénées-Orientales, to a leading family in that city. His great grandfather came from humble origins and rose to become vice-consul to the

Republic of Genoa The Republic of Genoa ( lij, Repúbrica de Zêna ; it, Repubblica di Genova; la, Res Publica Ianuensis) was a medieval and early modern maritime republic from the 11th century to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast. During the Lat ...

. His grandfather, a successful businessman of

Port-Vendres Port-Vendres (; ca, Portvendres) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department, southwestern France. A typical Mediterranean fishing port, situated near the Spanish border on the Côte Vermeille in southwestern France, Port-Vendres is re ...

, became vice-consul to

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...

. Jules Pams attended the

lycée Charlemagne The Lycée Charlemagne is located in the Marais quarter of the 4th arrondissement of Paris, the capital city of France. Constructed many centuries before it became a lycée, the building originally served as the home of the Order of the Jesuit ...

and then the Faculty of Law of Paris. After graduating he became an attorney in Perpignan. In 1889 Pams ran for election to the legislature on the Radical list but was not elected. He became a member of the general council of the Pyrénées-Orientales department in 1892, representing the canton of

Argelès-sur-Mer Argelès-sur-Mer (, literally ''Argelès on Sea''; ca, Argelers de la Marenda or ; oc, Argelers de Mar), commonly known as Argelès, is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in the administrative region of Occitania, France. It is ...

. He was a member of the general council for thirty six years, and its president for fifteen years. In 1888 Jules Pams married Jeanne Bardou, one of the heiresses of the JOB cigarette paper company founded by Jean Bardou. Her father, Pierre Bardou, son of the founder, had bought several properties on the rue Saint-Sauveur (rue E. Zola) between 1852 and 1872 and built a town house on the site illuminated by a magnificent glass roof. Pams and his wife lived in this house, and after the death of Pierre Bardou in 1892 employed the architect and designer Léopold Carlier (1839–1922) to transform it. The renovation in 1894–97 added gold, marble and onyx throughout, with

marquetry Marquetry (also spelled as marqueterie; from the French ''marqueter'', to variegate) is the art and craft of applying pieces of veneer to a structure to form decorative patterns, designs or pictures. The technique may be applied to case furn ...

furniture and paintings by

Paul Gervais Paul Gervais full name François Louis Paul Gervais (26 September 1816 – 10 February 1879) was a French palaeontologist and entomologist. Biography Gervais was born in Paris, where he obtained the diplomas of doctor of science and of medicine ...

. The "

Hôtel Pams The Hôtel Pams is a mansion in Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales, France. It was built between 1852 and 1872 by Pierre Bardou, one of the founders of the JOB cigarette paper company, then transformed in the 1890s into an elegant mansion by his so ...

" became the social focus of the wealthy elite of the city. Jeanne died in 1916. Pams married Marguerite Holtzer in 1918.

National politics

Pams ran again for election as a deputy in 1893 and was elected in the first round. He was reelected in 1898 and 1902. He was elected to the Senate on 25 December 1904, and was reelected in 1909, 1920 and 1927. He was mainly involved in issues related to wine and the marine. Pams was appointed

Minister of Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...

on 2 March 1911 in the cabinet of

Ernest Monis Antoine Emmanuel Ernest Monis (; 23 May 1846 in Châteauneuf-sur-Charente – 25 May 1929 in Mondouzil) was a French politician of the Third Republic, deputy of Gironde from 1885 to 1889 and then senator of the same department from 1891 to 19 ...

, and retained this portfolio in the subsequent cabinets of

Joseph Caillaux Joseph-Marie–Auguste Caillaux (; 30 March 1863 Le Mans – 22 November 1944 Mamers) was a French politician of the Third Republic. He was a leader of the French Radical Party and Minister of Finance, but his progressive views in opposition ...

and

Raymond Poincaré Raymond Nicolas Landry Poincaré (, ; 20 August 1860 – 15 October 1934) was a French statesman who served as President of France from 1913 to 1920, and three times as Prime Minister of France. Trained in law, Poincaré was elected deputy in 1 ...

, leaving office on 17 January 1913. Pams was the originator of the ''

appellation d'origine contrôlée An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication primarily used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown, although other types of food often have appellations as well. Restrictions other than geographical boun ...

'' of the sweet wines of his region. He arranged the great naval review on 15 September 1911 in Port-Vendres. On 2 March 1913 he inaugurated the new road from

Banyuls Banyuls-sur-Mer (; ) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. It was first settled by Greeks starting in 400 BCE. Geography Location Banyuls-sur-Mer is located in the canton of La Côte Vermeille and in the a ...

Cerbère Cerbère (; ca, Cervera de la Marenda) is a commune and railway town in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France.Georges Clemenceau Georges Benjamin Clemenceau (, also , ; 28 September 1841 – 24 November 1929) was a French statesman who served as Prime Minister of France from 1906 to 1909 and again from 1917 until 1920. A key figure of the Independent Radicals, he was a ...

encouraged Pams to stand for election as

President of France The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (french: Président de la République française), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency i ...

, but he was beaten in the second round of voting by Poincaré. Pams was relatively obscure by comparison to the very experienced Poincaré. As the Socialist

Jean Jaurès Auguste Marie Joseph Jean Léon Jaurès (3 September 185931 July 1914), commonly referred to as Jean Jaurès (; oc, Joan Jaurés ), was a French Socialist leader. Initially a Moderate Republican, he later became one of the first social demo ...

said, "In these difficult times, how can the Radicals offer France and the Republic a man who has never revealed, either in opposition of in office, either in debate or in action, any real measure of ability?" On 16 November 1917 Pams was appointed

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

by Clemenceau. In April 1919 Pams circulated instructions to prefects that interpreted the 1905 law of separation of church and state as meaning crosses were allowed in monuments in cemeteries, but not on monuments on public roads. After retiring from the ministry on 20 January 1920 Pams went into semi-retirement, although in 1927 he was a delegate to the 8th meeting of the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...

. Jules Pams died at the age of 77 on 12 May 1930 in Paris after a long illness.

Notes

Sources

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pams, Jules 1835 births 1930 deaths People from Perpignan Politicians from Occitania (administrative region) Radical Party (France) politicians French Ministers of Agriculture French interior ministers Members of the 6th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Members of the 7th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Members of the 8th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic French Senators of the Third Republic Senators of Pyrénées-Orientales