Victor Leydet (1845–1908) was a French businessman, politician and novelist. He served as a member of the
Senate of France
The Senate (french: Sénat, ) is the upper house of the French Parliament, with the lower house being the National Assembly, the two houses constituting the legislature of France. The French Senate is made up of 348 senators (''sénateurs'' a ...
from 1897 to 1908.
Biography
Early life
Victor Leydet was born on July 3, 1845 in Aix-en-Provence.Senate /ref> /ref> His father, Joseph Vincent Leydet, was a factory worker. His mother was Marie Françoise Laurin. He was educated at the Collège Mignet (then known as the Collège Bourbon) in Aix.
Business career
He started his career as a shop assistant in shops in Aix. Later, he became Director of one of the biggest olive oil factories in
Provence
Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...
.
Political career
A staunch supporter of the Republic, he joined the Radical Left, a left-wing political party. He was elected to the town council of Aix in 1870. He also served as Deputy-Mayor of Aix from 1876 to 1882, when Salomon Bédarrides (1809-1886) was the Mayor. He also joined the General Council of the
Bouches-du-Rhône
Bouches-du-Rhône ( , , ; oc, Bocas de Ròse ; "Mouths of the Rhône") is a department in Southern France. It borders Vaucluse to the north, Gard to the west and Var to the east. The Mediterranean Sea lies to the south. Its prefecture and ...
(representing Peyrolles), when he campaigned for match-making factories to be returned to the French homeland rather than in her colonies; they were returned to France in 1872, and a new match-making factory was built in Aix from 1892 to 1895 (now reconverted as the Bibliothèque Méjanes, a public library, since 1989). He also worked as a judge in the Chamber of Commerce.
He served as a French Senator from 1897 to his death in 1908. He was opposed to the policies of
Léon Gambetta
Léon Gambetta (; 2 April 1838 – 31 December 1882) was a French lawyer and republican politician who proclaimed the French Third Republic in 1870 and played a prominent role in its early government.
Early life and education
Born in Cahors, Ga ...
(1838-1882) and
Jules Ferry
Jules François Camille Ferry (; 5 April 183217 March 1893) was a French statesman and republican philosopher. He was one of the leaders of the Moderate Republicans and served as Prime Minister of France from 1880 to 1881 and 1883 to 1885. He ...
(1832-1892), and he voted against extending the
Tonkin Campaign
The Tonkin campaign was an armed conflict fought between June 1883 and April 1886 by the French against, variously, the Vietnamese, Liu Yongfu's Black Flag Army and the Chinese Guangxi and Yunnan armies to occupy Tonkin (northern Vietnam) and ...
in
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
. Additionally, he voted in favour of the separation of church and state. He proposed a law to establish an income tax which would be progressive and proportional. He supported a break-up of the match-making industry in France, a French state monopoly which lasted from 1872 to 1992 (initially established to finance the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871). In his second tenure, which started in 1903, he opposed the policies of
Maurice Rouvier
Maurice Rouvier (; 17 April 1842 – 7 June 1911) was a French statesman of the "Opportunist" faction, who served as the Prime Minister of France. He is best known for his financial policies and his unpopular policies designed to avoid a ruptur ...
(1842–1911)
Pierre Tirard
Pierre Emmanuel Tirard (; 27 September 1827 – 4 November 1893) was a French politician.
Biography
He was born to French parents in Geneva, Switzerland. After studying in his native town, Tirard became a civil engineer. After five years of go ...
(1827-1893) He was also in favour of going after General
Georges Ernest Boulanger
Georges Ernest Jean-Marie Boulanger (29 April 1837 – 30 September 1891), nicknamed Général Revanche ("General Revenge"), was a French general and politician. An enormously popular public figure during the second decade of the Third Repub ...
(1837–1891), who attempted a coup d'état in 1889. He took a look at regulating the use of the Durance, protecting wild birds, increasing the number of fields of olive trees and tobacco in Provence, and promoting the
Étang de Berre
The Étang de Berre (in Provençal Occitan: ''estanh de Bèrra / mar de Bèrra'' according to classical orthography, ''estang de Berro / mar de Berro'' according to Mistralian orthography) is a brackish water lagoon on the Mediterranean coast o ...
. Moreover, he was in favour of encouraging army recruitment, increasing railway tracks in France, and maintaining the University of Aix in Aix.
Novelist
He wrote three novels set in Aix, published weekly in the newspaper ''Le National''.
Personal life
He married Louise Ely. They had five sons and two daughters:
* Edmond Leydet (1869-unknown). He was a Prefect of
Eure-et-Loir
Eure-et-Loir (, locally: ) is a French department, named after the Eure and Loir rivers. It is located in the region of Centre-Val de Loire. In 2019, Eure-et-Loir had a population of 431,575.
*Fernand Leydet (1871-unknown).
* Louis Leydet (1873-unknown). He was a painter.
*Lucien Marc Leydet (1874-unknown).
*Paul Gabriel Leydet (1876-unknown).
*Francia Leydet (1877-unknown).
*Sextia Leydet (1883-unknown).
His son Louis was friends with painter
Paul Cézanne
Paul Cézanne ( , , ; ; 19 January 1839 – 22 October 1906) was a French artist and Post-Impressionist painter whose work laid the foundations of the transition from the 19th-century conception of artistic endeavour to a new and radically d ...
(1839-1906). As a result, Victor Leydet attended Cézanne's funeral and said a few words about him.
He died on October 22, 1908 in Paris. His corpse was returned to Aix, and he was buried in the Saint-Pierre Cemetery in Aix.
Legacy
*The ''Rue Victor Leydet'' in Aix-en-Provence is named in his honour.Google Maps /ref> He resided at number 40 on this street, formerly known as the ''Rue Villeverte''. On February 23, 1911, the town council decided to rename the street after him.
*On December 18, 1910, a bronze bust designed by sculptor Auguste Carli (1868-1930) was dedicated on the ''Place Jeanne d'Arc'' in Aix. Several ministers were present alongside a crowd of about 700. However, the bust was stolen by the Germans in 1943, during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
. A new bust, made of
plaster
Plaster is a building material used for the protective or decorative coating of walls and ceilings and for moulding and casting decorative elements. In English, "plaster" usually means a material used for the interiors of buildings, while "re ...
and initially on his cemetery tomb, is now in its place, behind a newsagent.