Signed drawing of Eugene Schneider by Manuel Rosenberg for the Cincinnati Post 1917

Joseph Eugène Schneider (29 March 1805 – 27 November 1875) was a French

industrialist A business magnate, also known as an industrialist or tycoon, is a person who is a powerful entrepreneur and investor who controls, through personal enterprise ownership or a dominant shareholding position, a firm or industry whose goods or ser ...

and politician. In 1836, he co-founded the Schneider company with his brother, Adolphe Schneider. For many years he was a Deputy, and he was briefly Minister of Commerce and Agriculture in 1851.

Early life

Eugène Schneider was born on 29 March 1805 in Bidestroff, in the department of

Moselle The Moselle ( , ; ; ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it joins at Koblenz. A sm ...

, France. He was the brother of Adolphe Schneider (1802–45), who served as a Deputy from 1842 to 1845. His father died when he was young, and he took a modest job in a trading house in

Reims Reims ( ; ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French Departments of France, department of Marne (department), Marne, and the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 12th most populous city in Fran ...

, then in the bank of Baron François-Alexandre Seillière.

Business career

Schneider showed great aptitude for business, and at the age of 25 was appointed a director of the forges at Bazeilles. In 1833, his brother was appointed managing director of Le Creuzot, and he was added as co-manager the same year. He made a powerful contribution to the prosperity of this establishment. After his brother died Schneider became the sole director of Le Creuzot and soon was a powerful industrialist. In the crisis year of 1848 Charles de Wendel and Eugène Schneider saved the foundry at Fourchambault from bankruptcy by co-signing a huge bank loan. Schneider obtained a monopoly in supplying arms to the French government, supplied the materials for government-encouraged railway construction. What would become the Comité des forges was founded in 1864. The committee had the goals of managing relations between the industry and government, promoting exports and coordinating prices. Eugène Schneider was the first president. There were ten members, each representing a region.

Political career

After his brother's death Eugène Schneider was elected General Counselor of Couches and Montcenis. He was elected Deputy of the 5th college of

Saône-et-Loire Saône-et-Loire (; Arpitan: ''Sona-et-Lêre'') is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in France. It is named after the rivers Saône and Loire, between which it lies, in the country's central-eastern part. Saône-et-Loire is B ...

(Autun) on 13 September 1845. During the

July Monarchy The July Monarchy (), officially the ''Kingdom of France'' (), was a liberalism, liberal constitutional monarchy in France under , starting on 9 August 1830, after the revolutionary victory of the July Revolution of 1830, and ending 26 Februar ...

, Schneider was a deputy until 24 February 1848, sitting with the government majority. During the

French Second Republic The French Second Republic ( or ), officially the French Republic (), was the second republican government of France. It existed from 1848 until its dissolution in 1852. Following the final defeat of Napoleon, Napoleon Bonaparte at the Battle ...

Schneider ran unsuccessfully in 1848 for election to the Constituent Assembly, and again ran unsuccessfully in 1849 for election to the Legislative Assembly. On 20 January 1851,

Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon III (Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was President of France from 1848 to 1852 and then Emperor of the French from 1852 until his deposition in 1870. He was the first president, second emperor, and last ...

, President of the Republic, invited Schneider to join an interim cabinet as Minister of Agriculture and Commerce, which he kept until 10 April 1851. Schneider was then appointed Commander of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

. Schneider supported the ''coup d'état'' of 2 December 1851 that launched the

Second French Empire The Second French Empire, officially the French Empire, was the government of France from 1852 to 1870. It was established on 2 December 1852 by Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, president of France under the French Second Republic, who proclaimed hi ...

. He became a member of the consultative commission, and on 29 February 1852 was elected to the ''

Corps législatif The was a part of the French legislature during the French Revolution and beyond. It is also the generic French term used to refer to any legislative body. History Under Napoleon's Consulate, the Constitution of the Year VIII (1799) set up ...

'' for the 2nd constituency of Saône-et-Loire, running as the official candidate. He was reelected in turn of 22 June 1857, 1 June 1863 and 24 May 1869. Schneider was President of the Corps from 2 April 1867 to 4 September 1870. When Jérôme David was reappointed Vice-President in June 1869, this was seen as a promise to the reactionary party, and Schneider submitted his resignation. He agreed to remain only at the personal request of the

emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

. He was a member of the ''

'' until 4 September 1870, always sitting with the dynastic majority.

Death

Schneider died on 27 November 1875 in Paris. He was buried in the San Charles church in Le Creusot (Saône-et-Loire). His son Henri Schneider took over control of the Le Creusot foundry.

Legacy

He is one of the 72 names inscribed on the Eiffel Tower.

References

Sources

* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schneider, Eugene 1805 births 1875 deaths Ministers of agriculture and commerce of France Regents of the Banque de France 19th-century French businesspeople French company founders People from Moselle (department) Schneider Electric people Société Générale Members of the 4th Corps législatif of the Second French Empire Members of the 3rd Corps législatif of the Second French Empire Members of the 2nd Corps législatif of the Second French Empire Members of the 1st Corps législatif of the Second French Empire Members of the 7th Chamber of Deputies of the July Monarchy Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour