Jacques Marie Eugène Godefroy Cavaignac (May 21, 1853 – September 25, 1905), known as Godefroy Cavaignac, was a French

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

Early life

Born in

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 ...

, he was the son of

Louis Eugène Cavaignac Louis may refer to: People * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer Other uses * Louis (coin), a French coin * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also * ...

. He made public profession of his republican principles as a schoolboy at the

Lycée Charlemagne The Lycée Charlemagne () is located in the Marais quarter of the 4th arrondissement of Paris, the capital city of France. Constructed many centuries before it became a lycée, the building originally served as the home of the Order of the Je ...

by refusing in 1867 to receive a prize at the Sorbonne from the hand of the Prince Imperial.

Third Republic

He received the military medal for service in 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 ...

and in 1872 entered the

École Polytechnique (, ; also known as Polytechnique or l'X ) is a ''grande école'' located in Palaiseau, France. It specializes in science and engineering and is a founding member of the Polytechnic Institute of Paris. The school was founded in 1794 by mat ...

. He served as a civil engineer in

Angoulême Angoulême (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Engoulaeme''; ) is a small city in the southwestern French Departments of France, department of Charente, of which it is the Prefectures of France, prefecture. Located on a plateau overlooking a meander of ...

until 1881, when he became master of requests in the

Council of State A council of state is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head ...

. The next year, he was elected as a republican deputy for the ''

arrondissement An arrondissement (, , ) is any of various administrative divisions of France, Belgium, Haiti, and certain other Francophone countries, as well as the Netherlands. Europe France The 101 French departments are divided into 342 ''arrondissem ...

'' of

Saint-Calais Saint-Calais () is a commune in the Sarthe department in the region of Pays de la Loire in north-western France. Prior to the French Revolution it was known for its Benedictine abbey named after the Anisola stream (modern Aniole, a tributary ...

(

Sarthe Sarthe () is a department of the French region of Pays de la Loire, and the province of Maine, situated in the '' Grand-Ouest'' of the country. It is named after the river Sarthe, which flows from east of Le Mans to just north of Angers. It ha ...

). In 1885–1886, he was undersecretary for war in the

Henri Brisson Eugène Henri Brisson (; 31 July 1835 – 14 April 1912) was a French statesman, Prime Minister of France for a period in 1885-1886 and again in 1898. Biography He was born at Bourges (Cher), and followed his father's profession of advocate. ...

ministry, and served in the cabinet of

Émile Loubet Émile François Loubet (; 30 December 183820 December 1929) was the 45th Prime Minister of France from February to December 1892 and later President of France from 1899 to 1906. Trained in law, he became Mayor (France), mayor of Montélimar, w ...

(1892) as Minister of Marine and of the Colonies. He had exchanged his moderate republicanism for

radical Radical (from Latin: ', root) may refer to: Politics and ideology Politics *Classical radicalism, the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and Latin America in the 19th century *Radical politics ...

views before he became

War Minister A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divided ...

in the cabinet of

Léon Bourgeois Léon Victor Auguste Bourgeois (; 21 May 185129 September 1925) was a French statesman. His ideas influenced the Radical Party regarding a wide range of issues. He promoted progressive taxation such as progressive income taxes and social insu ...

(November 1, 1895 to April 29, 1896). He was again Minister of War in the Brisson cabinet from June 28 to September 5, 1898. In July 1898, he told the

French National Assembly The National Assembly (, ) is the lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral French Parliament under the French Fifth Republic, Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (France), Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are known ...

of documents incriminating Captain

Alfred Dreyfus Alfred Dreyfus (9 October 1859 – 12 July 1935) was a French Army officer best known for his central role in the Dreyfus affair. In 1894, Dreyfus fell victim to a judicial conspiracy that eventually sparked a major political crisis in the Fre ...

. Cavaignac's investigator, Captain Louis Cuignet, later discovered that the critical document was a forgery by Colonel Henry, who admitted his crime when he was questioned on August 30 by Cavaignac. Still, Cavaignac refused to concur with his colleagues in a revision of the Dreyfus prosecution, which would have been the logical outcome of his own exposure of the forgery. Resigning his portfolio, he continued to declare his conviction of Dreyfus's guilt and joined the nationalist group in the chamber of which he became one of its leaders. (He is portrayed in precisely the opposite way in the 1937 film ''

The Life of Emile Zola ''The Life of Emile Zola'' is a 1937 American biographical film about the 19th-century French author Émile Zola starring Paul Muni and directed by William Dieterle. It premiered at the Los Angeles Carthay Circle Theatre to great critical and ...

'' in which he is depicted as the person who finally discovers the truth and demands the resignation of all those responsible for incriminating Dreyfus.) He also was an energetic supporter of the Ligue de la Patrie Française. In 1899, Cavaignac was an unsuccessful candidate for

French President The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency is the supreme magistracy of the country, the pos ...

Death

He had announced his intention of retiring from political life when he died at his country home near Flée (Sarthe) on September 25, 1905, aged 52.

Works

He wrote an important book on the ''Formation de la Prusse contemporaine'' (2 vols., 1891–1898), dealing with the events of 1806–1813 around Napoleonic Wars.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cavaignac, Jacques Marie Eugene Godefroy 1853 births 1905 deaths Politicians from Paris Republican Union (France) politicians Opportunist Republicans Nationalist Republicans (France) Ministers of war of France Ministers of marine and the colonies Members of the 3rd Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Members of the 4th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Members of the 5th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Members of the 6th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Members of the 7th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Members of the 8th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Members of Parliament for Sarthe Members of the Ligue de la patrie française Antidreyfusards Children of presidents of France Corps des ponts École Polytechnique alumni French military personnel of the Franco-Prussian War Burials at Montmartre Cemetery