Comte Émile de Kératry (24 March 1832,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

— 6 April 1904, Paris) was a French politician, soldier and author, the son of Auguste Hilarion (old noble Breton family). Kératry became deputy for

Finistère Finistère (, ; ) is a Departments of France, department of France in the extreme west of Brittany. Its prefecture is Quimper and its largest city is Brest, France, Brest. In 2019, it had a population of 915,090.Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

in 1870. He was in Paris during part of the

siege A siege () . is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or by well-prepared assault. Siege warfare (also called siegecrafts or poliorcetics) is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict charact ...

, but escaped in a

balloon A balloon is a flexible membrane bag that can be inflated with a gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, or air. For special purposes, balloons can be filled with smoke, liquid water, granular media (e.g. sand, flour or rice), ...

, and joined

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, ...

. He was appointed to raise an "army of Brittany" from the west of France to strike back at the advancing Prussians, but his hastily assembled volunteers were poorly equipped and suffered poor conditions while being prepared for combat at

Camp Conlie Camp Conlie was one of eleven military camps established by the Republican Government of National Defense under Léon Gambetta during the Franco-Prussian war. It became notable because of events which have led to its being described as a "concentr ...

. As a result, Kératry resigned. In 1871 Thiers appointed him to the prefecture, first of the

Haute-Garonne Haute-Garonne (; , ; ''Upper Garonne'') is a department in the southwestern French region of Occitanie. Named after the river Garonne, which flows through the department. Its prefecture and main city is Toulouse, the country's fourth-largest. ...

, and subsequently of the

Bouches-du-Rhône Bouches-du-Rhône ( ; , ; ; "the Mouths of the Rhône") is a Departments of France, department in southern France. It borders Vaucluse to the north, Gard to the west and Var (department), Var to the east. The Mediterranean Sea lies to the sout ...

, but he resigned in the following year.

Works

* ''La Contre-guérilla française au Mexique'' (1868) * ''The Rise and Fall of the Emperor Maximilian'' (L'Élévation et la chute de l'empereur Maximilien) (1867) * ''Le Quatre-septembre et le gouvernement de la défense nationale'' (1872) * ''Mourad V, prince, sultan, prisonnier d'État 1840-78'' (1878)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keratry, Emile De 1832 births 1904 deaths 19th-century police officers Politicians from Paris Writers from Paris 19th-century French nobility French people of Breton descent Members of the 4th Corps législatif of the Second French Empire Prefects of police of Paris 19th-century French male writers French military personnel of the Franco-Prussian War