Pierre Clément Eugène Pelletan (29 October 1813 – 13 December 1884) was a French writer, journalist and politician.

Career

Born in

Royan Royan (; in the Saintongeais dialect; ) is a commune and town in the south-west of France, in the Departments of France, department of Charente-Maritime in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region. Capital of the Côte de Beauté, Royan is one of the mai ...

, Charente-Maritime, Eugène Pelletan was an associate of

Lamartine Alphonse Marie Louis de Prat de Lamartine (; 21 October 179028 February 1869) was a French author, poet, and statesman. Initially a moderate royalist, he became one of the leading critics of the July Monarchy of Louis-Philippe, aligning more w ...

, but refused an appointment to the office in the foreign affairs ministry. Elected deputy in 1863, he joined the opposition to the Second Empire regime. His bright and eloquent speeches won him fame as a brilliant orator. Re-elected in 1869, he protested against the war with Prussia and became a member of the

Government of National Defense The Government of National Defense () was the first government of the Third Republic of France from 4 September 1870 to 13 February 1871 during the Franco-Prussian War. It was formed after the proclamation of the Republic in Paris on 4 September ...

on 4 September 1870. From 31 January to 4 February 1871, Pelletan exercised the duties of public education minister, but he departed for

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

on 6 February. Elected to the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

in February 1871, he approved the politics of Thiers and became vice-president of the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

in 1879. In 1884, he was elected

senator for life A senator for life is a member of the senate or equivalent upper chamber of a legislature who has life tenure. , five Italian senators out of 205, two out of the 41 Burundian senators, one Congolese senator out of 109, and all members of the Bri ...

. He was the father of Charles Camille Pelletan (1846–1915), French politician and journalist, and also had a daughter Denise Pelletan (d.1902).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pelletan, Eugene 1813 births 1884 deaths People from Charente-Maritime French life senators Senators of Bouches-du-Rhône