Isaac-Jacob Adolphe Crémieux (; 30 April 1796 – 10 February 1880) was a French lawyer and politician who served as Minister of Justice under the Second Republic (1848) and Government of National Defense (1870–1871). Raised Jewish, he served as president of the Alliance Israélite Universelle (1863–67; 1868–80), secured French citizenship for Algerian Jews under French rule through the

Crémieux Decree The Crémieux Decree (; ) was a law that granted French citizenship to the majority of the Jewish population in French Algeria (around 35,000), signed by the Government of National Defense on 24 October 1870 during the Franco-Prussian War. It was ...

(1870), and was a staunch defender of the rights of the Jews of France.http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1220526714430&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull/Cremieux Street: Champion of French Jewry.

Biography

He was born in

Nîmes Nîmes ( , ; ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Gard Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region of Southern France. Located between the Med ...

to a wealthy Papal Jew family, which had migrated from the papal enclave of

Carpentras Carpentras (, formerly ; Provençal dialect, Provençal Occitan language, Occitan: ''Carpentràs'' in classical norm or ''Carpentras'' in Mistralian norm; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Vaucluse Departments of France, department in the ...

to Nîmes. He married a member of the Silny family in 1824. He and his wife are credited with raising their granddaughter, author and activist Louise Cruppi.

Political career

After the July Revolution of 1830 he came to

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 ...

, formed connections with numerous political figures, even with King Louis Philippe, and became a brilliant defender of Liberal ideas in the law courts and in the press. Examples include his ''Éloge funèbre'' of the bishop Grégoire (1830), his ''Mémoire'' for the political rehabilitation of Marshal Ney (1833), and his plea for the accused of April 1835. Elected deputy in 1842, he was one of the leaders in the campaign against the Guizot ministry, and his eloquence contributed greatly to the success of his party. From 1834 until his death, Crémieux served as vice-president of the "Consistoire Central des Israélites de France" (Central

Consistory Consistory is the anglicized form of the consistorium, a council of the closest advisors of the Roman emperors. It can also refer to: *A papal consistory, a formal meeting of the Sacred College of Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church *Consistor ...

of the Jews of France), the administrative agency for all French Jews. On 24 February 1848 he was chosen by the Republicans as a member of the provisional government, and as minister of justice he secured the decrees abolishing the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...

for political offenses, and making the office of judge immovable. That same year he was instrumental in declaring an end to

slavery Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

in all French Colonies, for which some have called him the French

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

. When the conflict between the Republicans and

Socialists Socialism is an economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes the economic, political, and socia ...

broke out, he resigned office but continued to sit in the constituent assembly. At first he supported Louis Napoleon, but when he discovered the prince's imperial ambitions he broke with him. Arrested and imprisoned on 2 December 1851, he remained in private life until November 1869, when he was elected as a Republican deputy for Paris. On 4 September 1870 he was again chosen as a member of the government of national defense, and resumed his position in the ministry of justice. He then formed part of the Delegation of Tours, but took no part in the completion of the organization of defense. He resigned with his colleagues on 14 February 1871. Eight months later he was elected deputy, then life senator in 1875. Crémieux did much to better the condition of the Jews. In 1827, he advocated the repeal of the '' More judaico'', legislation stigmatizing the Jews left over from pre-

revolutionary A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates for, a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective to describe something producing a major and sudden impact on society. Definition The term—bot ...

France. Encyclopedia Judaica, ''Cremieux, Isaac Adolphe'' He was an early supporter of the Alliance Israelite Universelle—established in Paris in 1860—serving as its president from 1863 to 1867, then again from 1868 until his death in 1880. In 1866 Crémieux traveled to

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

to successfully defend Jews of

Saratov Saratov ( , ; , ) is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and administrative center of Saratov Oblast, Russia, and a major port on the Volga River. Saratov had a population of 901,361, making it the List of cities and tow ...

who had been accused in a case of

blood libel Blood libel or ritual murder libel (also blood accusation) is an antisemitic canardTurvey, Brent E. ''Criminal Profiling: An Introduction to Behavioral Evidence Analysis'', Academic Press, 2008, p. 3. "Blood libel: An accusation of ritual mu ...

. Crémieux published a ''Recueil'' of his political cases (1869), and the ''Actes de la délégation de Tours et de Bordeaux'' (2 vols, 1871).

Crémieux decree

While in the government of the national defence, he secured full

citizenship Citizenship is a membership and allegiance to a sovereign state. Though citizenship is often conflated with nationality in today's English-speaking world, international law does not usually use the term ''citizenship'' to refer to nationalit ...

for the Jews in French-ruled

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

, through the Crémieux Decree (). The decree allowed for native

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

to become French citizens while

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

s and

Berbers Berbers, or the Berber peoples, also known as Amazigh or Imazighen, are a diverse grouping of distinct ethnic groups indigenous to North Africa who predate the arrival of Arab migrations to the Maghreb, Arabs in the Maghreb. Their main connec ...

were excluded and remained under the second-class ‘indigenous’ status outlined in the Code de l'Indigénat. This set the scene for deteriorating relations between the Muslim and Jewish communities, and later proved fateful in the

Algerian War of Independence The Algerian War (also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence) ''; '' (and sometimes in Algeria as the ''War of 1 November'') was an armed conflict between France and the Algerian National Liberation Front (Algeri ...

, after which the vast majority of Algerian Jews emigrated to France.

Freemasonry

Initiated freemason in 1818, at "Bienfait Anonyme" Grand Orient de France lodge in Nîmes, he joined "Aide-toi, le Ciel t'aidera" lodge in Paris during 1830. In 1866 he joined Suprême Conseil de France and became 33rd degree and Great Commander in 1868. During his masonic career, he encouraged republicans and monarchists to work together.Adolphe Crémieux: homme d'Etat français, Juif et franc-maçon : le combat pour la République (Georges Renauld, Detrad ed., 2002)

Death

Crémieux died in Paris in 1880 and was buried at Montparnasse cemetery.

Commemoration

A street is named after him in Jerusalem's German Colony neighborhood, as well as in central

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

and the French Carmel district in

Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...

. He is the subject of two lithographs by Honoré Daumier, both poking fun at his ugliness. The first was in 1848 in the "Representatives Represented" series, with caption "Great lover of change, nothing would be missing from his happiness if one day he changed his face!" The other was a year later, captioned, "Mr. Crémieux looking for an apartment: If I rent this lodging, I would like the landlord to take down this dreadful portrait... oh! but, Good God, it's a mirror!..."

References

External links

CAIRN.INFO: Isaac-Jacob Adolphe Crémieux, Avocat, homme politique, président du Consistoire central et de l’Alliance israélite universelle
(in French)
Bibliothèque de l'Alliance israélite universelle: AP W 14 – CREMIEUX Adolphe et Amélie (don Nicole GODCHAUX)
(in French)

(in French)
GeneaNet: Jean Hervé FAVRE's family tree: Adolphe CREMIEUX
(some text in French) {{DEFAULTSORT:Cremieux, Adolphe 1796 births 1880 deaths People from Nîmes Jewish French politicians Republican Union (France) politicians Ministers of justice of France Members of the 6th Chamber of Deputies of the July Monarchy Members of the 7th Chamber of Deputies of the July Monarchy Members of the 1848 Constituent Assembly Members of the National Legislative Assembly of the French Second Republic Members of the 4th Corps législatif of the Second French Empire Members of the National Assembly (1871) Members of Parliament for Indre-et-Loire Members of Parliament for Seine Members of Parliament for French Algeria French life senators French Freemasons 19th-century French lawyers Aix-Marseille University alumni Burials at Montparnasse Cemetery French abolitionists Jewish abolitionists Activists against antisemitism