Joseph Chaumié (17 March 1849 – 19 July 1919) was a French politician,
Senator
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...
for
Lot-et-Garonne
Lot-et-Garonne (, ) is a department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of Southwestern France. Named after the rivers Lot and Garonne, it had a population of 331,271 in 2019.Agen
Agen (, , ) is the prefecture of the Lot-et-Garonne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Southwestern France. It lies on the river Garonne, southeast of Bordeaux. In 2021, the commune had a population of 32,485.
Geography
The city of Agen l ...
,
Lot-et-Garonne
Lot-et-Garonne (, ) is a department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of Southwestern France. Named after the rivers Lot and Garonne, it had a population of 331,271 in 2019.Sorbonne 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 ...
and although he was a successful student, he was unsuccessful in obtaining permission to practice at the bar in Paris, probably due to the influence of police reports which described him as a revolutionary. He returned to Agen where he practised law.
In 1886, he was elected to the town council in Agen and served as mayor from 1896 to 1900. He was elected to the Senate in 1897. He was one of those who worked with
René Waldeck-Rousseau
Pierre Marie René Ernest Waldeck-Rousseau (; 2 December 184610 August 1904) was a French Republicanism, Republican politician who served for three years as the Prime Minister of France.
Early life
Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau was born in Nantes, ...
to create the
Democratic Republican Alliance
The Democratic Alliance (, AD), originally called Democratic Republican Alliance (, ARD), was a French political party created in 1901 by followers of Léon Gambetta such as Raymond Poincaré, who would be president of the Council in the 1920s. ...
, of which he was vice-president. A highly regarded orator and active member of the Senate, he served as
Education minister
An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...
1902 to 1905 in the government of
Émile Combes
Émile Justin Louis Combes (; 6 September 183525 May 1921) was a French politician and freemason who led the Bloc des gauches, Lefts Bloc (French: ''Bloc des gauches'') cabinet from June 1902 to January 1905.
Career
Émile Combes was born on 6 ...
and then
Justice minister
A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...
in until 1906 in the second and third governments of
Maurice Rouvier
Maurice Rouvier (; 17 April 1842 – 7 June 1911) was a French statesman of the "Opportunist" faction, who twice served as the Prime Minister of France. He is best known for his financial policies and his unpopular policies designed to avoid a r ...
. Under Combes, he oversaw the integration of the staff of the
École Normale Supérieure
École or Ecole may refer to:
* an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by Secondary education in France, secondary education establishments (collège and lycée)
* École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing i ...
into 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 ...
. He represented the government at
Émile Zola
Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola (, ; ; 2 April 184029 September 1902) was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of Naturalism (literature), naturalism, and an important contributor to ...
's funeral and other key events. He was a strong supporter of the separation of church and state enshrined in the
1905 French law on the Separation of the Churches and the State
The 1905 French law on the Separation of the Churches and State (French language, French: ) was passed by the Chamber of Deputies (France), Chamber of Deputies on 3 July 1905. Enacted during the French Third Republic, Third Republic, it establishe ...
, a law which had a great impact on education.
After he left government he became involved in a dispute with
Maurice Bunau-Varilla Maurice Bunau-Varilla (1856 – 1 August 1944) was a French press magnate, and proprietor of the newspaper '' Le Matin''. During the Second World War, he made the newspaper's editorial line pro-German and pro-collaborationist, and it ceased publica ...
nepotism
Nepotism is the act of granting an In-group favoritism, advantage, privilege, or position to Kinship, relatives in an occupation or field. These fields can include business, politics, academia, entertainment, sports, religion or health care. In ...
and favouritism. He claimed that he was being attacked because he refused to share documents on the Dreyfus affair with the paper and began a
libel
Defamation is a communication that injures a third party's reputation and causes a legally redressable injury. The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country. It is not necessarily restricted to making assertions ...
() action, eventually winning his case. These events put a strain on his health and he was afterwards much less active in the Senate.
He died at
Clermont-Dessous
Clermont-Dessous () is a commune in the Lot-et-Garonne department in south-western France.
History
Clermont-Dessous was once a stronghold in Agenais to which the village of Fortic was later attached. The place was besieged in vain in 1221 by ...
in Lot-et-Garonne in 1919. His sons
Jacques
Jacques or Jacq are believed to originate from the Middle Ages in the historic northwest Brittany region in France, and have since spread around the world over the centuries. To date, there are over one hundred identified noble families related t ...
(1877–1920),
Pierre
Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...
(1880–1966), and
Emmanuel
Immanuel or Emmanuel (, "God swith us"; Koine Greek: ) is a Hebrew name that appears in the Book of Isaiah (7:14) as a sign that God will protect the House of David.
The Gospel of Matthew ( Matthew 1:22 –23) interprets this as a prophecy of ...