Xavier Joseph Haegy (December 2, 1870,

Hirsingue Hirsingue (; ) is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France. See also * Communes of the Haut-Rhin département The following is a list of the 366 communes of the French department of Haut-Rhin. The communes co ...

– May 11, 1932) was an Alsatian priest, journalist and politician. A staunch proponent of Alsatian regionalism, Haegy was major media proprietor in Alsace and was elected deputy of the Zentrumspartei in 1913–18.

Life

Born in

, he was the sworn enemy of the abbé Wetterlé and was an ardent

Francophobe Anti-French sentiment (Francophobia or Gallophobia) is fear or antagonism of France, the French people, French culture, the French government or the Francophonie (set of political entities that use French as an official language or whose French-s ...

peasant A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasants ...

origin who was more at ease speaking with peasants than in the

salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon (P ...

s of

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

. As a result, he had a great deal of popular success while at the same time remaining limited in his appeal to the

bourgeois The bourgeoisie ( , ) is a social class, equivalent to the middle or upper middle class. They are distinguished from, and traditionally contrasted with, the proletariat by their affluence, and their great cultural and financial capital. They ...

ie of Alsace. Stubborn on the point of

dogma Dogma is a belief or set of beliefs that is accepted by the members of a group without being questioned or doubted. It may be in the form of an official system of principles or doctrines of a religion, such as Roman Catholicism, Judaism, Islam ...

, he was nevertheless fairly liberal on social matters and attempted to promote

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

syndicalism. He died in

Colmar Colmar (, ; Alsatian: ' ; German during 1871–1918 and 1940–1945: ') is a city and commune in the Haut-Rhin department and Grand Est region of north-eastern France. The third-largest commune in Alsace (after Strasbourg and Mulhouse), it is ...

References

1870 births 1932 deaths People from Haut-Rhin 19th-century French Roman Catholic priests Centre Party (Germany) politicians Members of the Reichstag of the German Empire Politicians of the French Third Republic French journalists French male non-fiction writers {{France-journalist-stub