François-Xavier Joseph de Casabianca (27 June 1796 – 24 May 1881) was a French aristocrat, lawyer and politician who served as minister of agriculture and commerce, minister of finance, and president of the council of state in the government of
Louis Napoleon
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 ...
.
Early years
De Casabianca was born in
Nice
Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one millionRaphaël, Comte de Casabianca. The family had contributed to the annexation of that island to France.
De Casabianca obtained good grades at the lycée Napoléon, studied law at the
University of Paris
The University of Paris (), known Metonymy, metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated wit ...
, and in 1820 he became a member of the bar of
Bastia
Bastia ( , , , ; ) is a communes of France, commune in the Departments of France, department of Haute-Corse, Corsica, France. It is located in the northeast of the island of Corsica at the base of Cap Corse. It also has the second-highest popu ...
, in
Corsica
Corsica ( , , ; ; ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the Regions of France, 18 regions of France. It is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the Metro ...
, practicing as a lawyer until 1848. Since he was a Bonapartist, the government of King
Louis Philippe I
Louis Philippe I (6 October 1773 – 26 August 1850), nicknamed the Citizen King, was King of the French from 1830 to 1848, the penultimate monarch of France, and the last French monarch to bear the title "King". He abdicated from his throne ...
kept him away from public office.
Representative and minister
After the
February Revolution
The February Revolution (), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and sometimes as the March Revolution or February Coup was the first of Russian Revolution, two revolutions which took place in Russia ...
, on 23 April 1848 de Casabianca was elected to the constituent assembly as representative of Corsica. He joined the majority and generally voted with the right. After the presidential election of 10 December 1848 he became one of the most zealous supporters of the president, Prince
Louis Napoleon
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 ...
. He was reelected on 13 May 1849 as representative of Corsica in the legislative assembly. He continued to support the president, while joining the monarchist majority in votes. However, he abandoned the majority when conflict broke out with Louis Napoleon.
On 26 October 1851 de Casabianca joined the cabinet as minister of agriculture and commerce after the retirement of Léon Faucher, and after a few weeks became minister of finance, a position held at the time of the coup of 2 December 1851. When told by Louis-Napoleon of the planned coup the day before it took place, de Casabianca refused on principle to participate and was temporarily relieved of office. On 22 January 1852 de Casabianca was charged with organizing the new ministry of state. He left office on 28 July 1852 and entered the senate, where he voted for the establishment of 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 ...
, and continued to vote with the majority.
Later years
By a decree of 5 March 1864 de Casabianca was named attorney general at the court of accounts. During the
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 ...
(19 July 1870 – 10 May 1871), on 4 September 1870 he returned to private life. He briefly returned to politics when he was elected on 14 May 1876 as deputy for the Bastia district. He sat on the right with the Appel au peuple party. He did not stand in the 1877 elections. De Casabianca was named a grand officer 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 ...