Charles Léon Claude Daniélou (13 July 1878 – 30 December 1953) was a French politician who was Minister of the Merchant Marine in 1930–1931 and Minister of Health in 1932–1933).

Early years

Charles Léon Claude Daniélou came from a prosperous

Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally ** Breton people ** Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Ga ...

family with the strong tradition of political activity. His great-grandfather, Jean-Marie Daniélou (1764–1814), was mayor of

Locronan Locronan (; br, Lokorn) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France, with a population of 800. Locronan is a member of the ''Les Plus Beaux Villages de France'' ("The most beautiful villages of France") associa ...

under

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

. His grandfather, Jean-Pierre Daniélou (1798–1864), was a notary in Locronan and then

Douarnenez Douarnenez (, ; meaning ''douar'' (land) ''an enez'' (the island) or land of the island), is a commune in the French department of Finistère, region of Brittany, northwestern France. It is located at the mouth of the Pouldavid River, an estuary ...

, where he was mayor during the

French Second Republic The French Second Republic (french: Deuxième République Française or ), officially the French Republic (), was the republican government of France that existed between 1848 and 1852. It was established in February 1848, with the February Revo ...

from April 1848 to January 1949. His father, Eugène-Lucien-Napoléon Daniélou (1834–1897) was a wealthy wine merchant and one of the leading businessmen in Douarnenez, where he was several times mayor between 1855 and 1896. Eugène Daniélou was a militant Republican and atheist, and would not marry in church or allow his children to be baptized. Charles Léon Claude Daniélou was born on 13 July 1878 in

, Finistère. His parents were unmarried. Tradition says that he was baptized by a washerwoman. Charles attended the local school with the sons of fishermen, then attended the ''lycée'' in Brest for his secondary education. He studied to enter the Navy, but failed the medical examination due to his poor eyesight. He began writing poetry, and in 1897 sent a copy of his first collection of poems to

François Coppée François Edouard Joachim Coppée (26 January 1842 – 23 May 1908) was a French poet and novelist. Biography Coppée was born in Paris to a civil servant. After attending the Lycée Saint-Louis he became a clerk in the ministry of war and won ...

, who invited him to come to Paris. Daniélou moved to Paris in 1897 and was drawn into the circle of Coppée and

José-Maria de Heredia José-Maria de Heredia (22 November 1842 – 3 October 1905) was a Cuban-born French Parnassian poet. He was the fifteenth member elected for seat 4 of the Académie française in 1894. Biography Early years Heredia was born at Fortuna C ...

. He was converted to Christianity and baptized in 1897. He met literary and political figures such as

Henri de Régnier Henri-François-Joseph de Régnier (28 December 1864 – 23 May 1936) was a French symbolist poet, considered one of the most important of France during the early 20th century. Life and works He was born in Honfleur (Calvados) on 28 December 18 ...

Pierre Louÿs Pierre Louÿs (; 10 December 1870 – 4 June 1925) was a French poet and writer, most renowned for lesbian and classical themes in some of his writings. He is known as a writer who sought to "express pagan sensuality with stylistic perfection". ...

Gabriel Hanotaux Albert Auguste Gabriel Hanotaux, known as Gabriel Hanotaux (19 November 1853 – 11 April 1944) was a French statesman and historian. Biography He was born at Beaurevoir in the ''département'' of Aisne. He studied history at the École des C ...

Louis Barthou Jean Louis Barthou (; 25 August 1862 – 9 October 1934) was a French politician of the Third Republic who served as Prime Minister of France for eight months in 1913. In social policy, his time as prime minister saw the introduction (in Jul ...

Georges Leygues Georges Leygues (; 29 October 1856 – 2 September 1933) was a French politician of the Third Republic. During his time as Minister of Marine he worked with the navy's chief of staff Henri Salaun in unsuccessful attempts to gain naval re-arma ...

Émile Zola Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola (, also , ; 2 April 184029 September 1902) was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of naturalism, and an important contributor to the development of ...

and

Sarah Bernhardt Sarah Bernhardt (; born Henriette-Rosine Bernard; 22 or 23 October 1844 – 26 March 1923) was a French stage actress who starred in some of the most popular French plays of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including '' La Dame Aux Camel ...

. Daniélou was present at the last meeting between Zola and Coppée during the

Dreyfus affair The Dreyfus affair (french: affaire Dreyfus, ) was a political scandal that divided the French Third Republic from 1894 until its resolution in 1906. "L'Affaire", as it is known in French, has come to symbolise modern injustice in the Francop ...

. Zola had decided to publish his ''

J'Accuse…! "''J'Accuse...!''" (; "I Accuse...!") is an open letter that was published on 13 January 1898 in the newspaper ''L'Aurore'' by Émile Zola in response to the Dreyfus affair. Zola addressed President of France Félix Faure and accused his Govern ...

'', in which he proclaimed that Dreyfus was innocent, despite pleas by Coppée. Daniélou sided with Coppée and helped found the anti-Dreyfus

Ligue de la patrie française The Ligue de la patrie française (French Homeland League) was a French nationalist and anti- Dreyfus organization. It was officially founded in 1899, and brought together leading right-wing artists, scientists and intellectuals. The league fielded ...

in December 1898. Daniélou started to contribute to the Parisian journals such as ''Les Annales de la Vie française'', ''l'Homme libre'', '' Le Petit Journal'', ''Paris-Midi'', ''l'Eclair'' and ''

Le Soleil Le Soleil ("The Sun") is the name of several newspapers: * ''Le Soleil'' (Quebec), a French-language daily newspaper in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, founded in 1896 * ''Le Soleil'' (French newspaper), a defunct daily newspaper based in Paris fro ...

''. He published several collections of verse, and published two adventure novels in the ''Echo de Paris''. Daniélou married Madeleine Clamorgan on 27 July 1904. She was daughter of General Clamorgan, and an '' agrégée'' in Literature. She later wrote several books on education and founded various free educational institutions for women. While Charles Daniélou became known for his anti-clericalism, his wife was always a devout Catholic. She founded the Order of Sainte-Marie. After their marriage the couple settled in

, where Charles Daniélou was elected as a municipal councilor in 1908, running as an Independent Republican. He became mayor in 1912, and retained that position until 1944. He worked to preserve the Renaissance architecture of the small town, and in 1934 founded a museum of local art. There were six children from the marriage including

Jean Daniélou Jean-Guenolé-Marie Daniélou (; 14 May 1905 – 20 May 1974) was a French Jesuit and cardinal, an internationally well known patrologist, theologian and historian and a member of the Académie Française. Biography Early life and studies Jean ...

, who became a

Catholic cardinal A cardinal ( la, Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae cardinalis, literally 'cardinal of the Holy Roman Church') is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. Cardinals are created by the ruling pope and typically hold the title for life. Col ...

and Catherine, wife of Georges Izard. Their son Louis Daniélou joined the navy and died in 1942 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 opposin ...

Alain Daniélou Alain Daniélou (4 October 1907 – 27 January 1994) was a French historian, Indologist, intellectual, musicologist, translator, writer, and notable Western convert to and expert on the Shaivite sect of Hinduism. In 1991 he was awarded the Sa ...

became a well-known historian.

National politics

Daniélou ran for election to the legislature for the first district of

Châteaulin Châteaulin (; br, Kastellin) is a commune in the Finistère department and administrative region of Brittany in north-western France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. Geography Châteaulin is located in a valley towards the center of ...

, Finistère, in April–May 1910, and won on the second round. At first he sat with the Liberal Action group, but in 1911 joined the Progressive Republicans. He introduced a bill to ensure that sailors had religious freedom and another to provide subsidies for repairing school buildings. He ran for reelection in April–May 1914, but was defeated. He ran again in the general elections on 16 November 1919 as a Radical on the Republican Concentration list, and was successful. He joined the group of Left Republicans. On 19 April 1921 the prime minister

Aristide Briand Aristide Pierre Henri Briand (; 28 March 18627 March 1932) was a French statesman who served eleven terms as Prime Minister of France during the French Third Republic. He is mainly remembered for his focus on international issues and reconciliat ...

appointed him "commissioner for French expansion abroad." Daniélou was reelected on 11 May 1924 on the Republican list. He joined the Radical Left group, where he remained for the rest of his career. He was president of this group more than once. He was under-secretary of state for Ports, Merchant Marine and Fishery from 17 April 1925 to 9 March 1926. He held this post in the 3rd cabinet of

Paul Painlevé Paul Painlevé (; 5 December 1863 – 29 October 1933) was a French mathematician and statesman. He served twice as Prime Minister of the Third Republic: 12 September – 13 November 1917 and 17 April – 22 November 1925. His entry into politic ...

and the 8th Briand cabinet. In the 9th Briand cabinet formed on 9 March 1926 he was appointed under-secretary of state for the president of the Council and Foreign Affairs, and retained this position in the 10th Briand cabinet until it fell on 17 July 1926. Daniélou was reelected on the second round in the elections of 22–29 April 1928. He was appointed Minister of Merchant Marine in the short-lived cabinet of

Camille Chautemps Camille Chautemps (1 February 1885 – 1 July 1963) was a French Radical politician of the Third Republic, three times President of the Council of Ministers (Prime Minister). He was the father-in-law of U.S. politician and statesman Howard J. ...

from 21–25 February 1930. He was again Minister of Merchant Marine in the cabinet of

Théodore Steeg Théodore Steeg () (19 December 1868 – 19 December 1950) was a lawyer and professor of philosophy who became Premier of the French Third Republic. Steeg entered French politics in 1904 as a radical socialist, although his views were generally m ...

from 13 December 1930 to 21 January 1931. He was reelected in the second round in the elections of 1–8 May 1932. He was appointed

Minister of Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental health. Coun ...

on 18 December 1932 in the cabinet of Paul Boncour, and kept this post in the 1st cabinet of

Édouard Daladier Édouard Daladier (; 18 June 1884 – 10 October 1970) was a French Radical-Socialist (centre-left) politician, and the Prime Minister of France who signed the Munich Agreement before the outbreak of World War II. Daladier was born in Carpentr ...

, which fell on 24 October 1933. He was defeated in the second round in the elections of April–May 1936. Daniélou remained mayor of

until 1944. After the

Liberation of France The liberation of France in the Second World War was accomplished through diplomacy, politics and the combined military efforts of the Allied Powers of World War II, Allied Powers, Free French forces in London and Africa, as well as the French R ...

he left politics and devoted himself to the association of former parliamentarians, of which he was president. Charles Daniélou died at the age of 75 on 30 December 1953 in

Neuilly Neuilly (, ) is a common place name in France, deriving from the male given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well ...

, Seine.

Publications

The official biography in the ''Dictionnaire des parlementaires français (1889–1940)'' records that Daniélou was noticed by

when he was 21, and published his first collection of verse, ''Ascension'', in 1903. This was followed by ''Rayonnements'' (1904), ''Armoricaines'' (1905), ''Heures lyriques'' (1906) and ''J'ai regardé derrière moi'' (1909). He also published two adventure novels in the ''

L'Écho de Paris ''L'Écho de Paris'' was a daily newspaper in Paris from 1884 to 1944. The paper's editorial stance was initially conservative and nationalistic, but it later became close to the French Social Party. Its writers included Octave Mirbeau, Henri de ...

'', namely ''La Fortune de Richemer'' and ''Le Crime du Député Ronan Conan''. Other fiction included ''Le Capitaine Trinitas'' and stories published as ''Les veillées fabuleuses''. He wrote a historical study of Finistère and many political works on the merchant marine, the army and so on. The

Bibliothèque nationale de France The Bibliothèque nationale de France (, 'National Library of France'; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites known respectively as ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository ...

lists the following: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Notes

Sources

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Danielou, Charles Leon Claude 1878 births 1953 deaths People from Douarnenez Politicians from Brittany Republican Federation politicians Democratic Republican Alliance politicians Independent Radical politicians French Ministers of Merchant Marine French Ministers of Health Members of the 10th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Members of the 12th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Members of the 13th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Members of the 14th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Members of the 15th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic