Marcel Sembat (, 19 October 1862 – 5 September 1922) was a French

Socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

politician.National Assembly biography
/ref> He served as a member of the

National Assembly of France The National Assembly (french: link=no, italics=set, Assemblée nationale; ) is the lower house of the bicameral French Parliament under the Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are know ...

from 1893 to 1922, and as Minister of Public Works from August 26, 1914, to December 12, 1916.

Biography

Early life

Marcel Sembat was born on October 19, 1862, in Bonnières-sur-Seine, Seine-et-Oise, France. He went to school in Mantes-la-Jolie, attended the Collège Stanislas in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

and later received a PhD in law.

Journalism

He started a career in journalism and co-founded the '' Revue de l'évolution''. From 1890 to 1897, he was the editor of '' La Petite République'', created by Leon Gambetta. It was then that he became a

. He also wrote for '' La Revue socialiste'', '' La Revue de l'enseignement primaire'', '' Documents du Progrès'', '' La Lanterne'', '' Petit sou'' and '' Paris-Journal''. He later became an editor of ''

L'Humanité ''L'Humanité'' (; ), is a French daily newspaper. It was previously an organ of the French Communist Party, and maintains links to the party. Its slogan is "In an ideal world, ''L'Humanité'' would not exist." History and profile Pre-World Wa ...

''.

Politics

He served as member of the Chamber of Deputies of France from 1893 to 1922. A socialist, he supported

workers' rights Labor rights or workers' rights are both legal rights and human rights relating to labor relations between workers and employers. These rights are codified in national and international labor and employment law. In general, these rights inf ...

during strikes. He oversaw the construction of telephone cables from

Brest, France Brest (; ) is a port city in the Finistère department, Brittany. Located in a sheltered bay not far from the western tip of the peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French ...

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital and largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar metropolitan area is estimated at 3.94 million in 2 ...

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...

. He supported Algerians against French colonialists in

French Algeria French Algeria (french: Alger to 1839, then afterwards; unofficially , ar, الجزائر المستعمرة), also known as Colonial Algeria, was the period of French colonisation of Algeria. French rule in the region began in 1830 with the ...

. He was opposed to the presence of French

Christian missionaries A Christian mission is an organized effort for the propagation of the Christian faith. Missions involve sending individuals and groups across boundaries, most commonly geographical boundaries, to carry on evangelism or other activities, such ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

. He served as Minister of Public Works from 1914 to 1916, under Prime Ministers René Viviani and

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 ...

Personal life

On February 27, 1897, he married the Fauvist painter and sculptor

Georgette Agutte Georgette Agutte (17 May 1867 – 5 September 1922) was a French painter. Biography She was born in Paris. Her father was Jean Georges Agutte. In 1893 she joined Gustave Moreau's classes as a free pupil, and retained his teachings on the freedo ...

. He wrote a book about

Henri Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known prim ...

Death

He died of

cerebral hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as cerebral bleed, intraparenchymal bleed, and hemorrhagic stroke, or haemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain, into its ventricles, or into both. It is one kind of bleed ...

on September 5, 1922, in

Chamonix Chamonix-Mont-Blanc ( frp, Chamôni), more commonly known as Chamonix, is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of southeastern France. It was the site of the first Winter Olympics in 1924. In 2019, it had ...

Haute-Savoie Haute-Savoie (; Arpitan: ''Savouè d'Amont'' or ''Hiôta-Savouè''; en, Upper Savoy) or '; it, Alta Savoia. is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France, bordering both Switzerland and Italy. Its prefecture is Ann ...

, France.

Legacy

*The station of the

Paris Métro The Paris Métro (french: Métro de Paris ; short for Métropolitain ) is a rapid transit system in the Paris metropolitan area, France. A symbol of the city, it is known for its density within the capital's territorial limits, uniform architec ...

Marcel Sembat is named for him. *The

Lycée In France, secondary education is in two stages: * ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 15. * ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for children between ...

Marcel Sembat in

Sotteville-lès-Rouen Sotteville-lès-Rouen (, literally ''Sotteville near Rouen'') is a commune and railway town in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in northern France. Geography It is the largest suburb of the city of Rouen and adjacent to it, ...

is named for him.Lycée Marcel Sembat
/ref> *Boulevard Agutte-Sembat in

Grenoble lat, Gratianopolis , commune status = Prefecture and commune , image = Panorama grenoble.png , image size = , caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...

is named for his wife and him.

Bibliography

*''Leur Bilan, quatre ans de pouvoir Clemenceau-Briand'' (Paris, Librairie du Parti socialiste S.F.I.O., 1910) *''Faites un roi, sinon faites la paix'' (E. Figuière et Cie : Paris, 1911) *''Henri Matisse, trente reproductions de peintures et dessins, précédées d'une étude critique par Marcel Sembat, de notices biographiques et documentaires'' (Paris : Éditions de la ''Nouvelle revue française'', 1920) *''La Victoire en déroute'' (prefaced by

Léon Blum André Léon Blum (; 9 April 1872 – 30 March 1950) was a French socialist politician and three-time Prime Minister. As a Jew, he was heavily influenced by the Dreyfus affair of the late 19th century. He was a disciple of French Socialist le ...

, Paris : Éditions du Progrès civique, 1925)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sembat, Marcel 1862 births 1922 deaths People from Yvelines Politicians from Île-de-France Socialist Revolutionary Party (France) politicians French Socialist Party (1902) politicians French Section of the Workers' International politicians French Ministers of Public Works 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 Members of the 9th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Members of the 10th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Members of the 11th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Members of the 12th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Writers from Île-de-France French male writers Collège Stanislas de Paris alumni