Louis-Antoine Garnier-Pagès (16 February 1803 – 31 October 1878) was a French politician and active

freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

who fought on the barricades during the revolution of July. Garnier-Pagès was born in

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

. He served as a member of the Provisional Government of 1848 under Jacques-Charles Dupont de l'Eure as well as

Mayor of Paris The mayor of Paris (, ) is the Chief executive officer, chief executive of Paris, the capital and largest city in France. The officeholder is responsible for the administration and management of the city, submits proposals and recommendations to ...

from February to March 1848, and then a member of the Government of National Defense (1870-1871) under Louis Jules Trochu as a

minister without portfolio A minister without portfolio is a government minister without specific responsibility as head of a government department. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet with decision-making authorit ...

. He was a keen promoter of reform and was a leading spirit in the affair of the reform banquet fixed for 22 February 1848. He was a member of the provisional government of 1848, and was named

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

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 ...

. On 5 March 1848, he was made minister of finance and incurred great unpopularity by the imposition of additional taxes. A surtax of 45 percent was implemented what came to be known as "the forty-five centimes".Fasel, George. 1974. “The Wrong Revolution: French Republicanism in 1848.” French Historical Studies 8 (4): 654–54. doi:10.2307/285857 1 member of the Constituent Assembly and of the Executive Commission, he was also instrumental in the creation of the nationwide network of comptoirs d'escompte. Under the

Empire An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...

he was conspicuous in the Republican opposition and opposed the war with

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

, and after the fall of

Napoleon III 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 ...

became a member of the Government of National Defence. Unsuccessful at the elections for the National Assembly (8 February 1871), he retired into private life. He wrote ''Histoire de la revolution de 1848'' (1860–1862); ''Histoire de la commission executive'' (1869–1872); and ''L'Opposition et l'empire'' (1872). He died in Paris, aged 75.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Garnier-pages, Louis-Antoine 1803 births 1878 deaths 19th-century heads of state of France Politicians from Marseille Moderate Republicans (France) Heads of state of France Finance ministers of France Government ministers of France Members of the 6th Chamber of Deputies of the July Monarchy Members of the 7th Chamber of Deputies of the July Monarchy Members of the 1848 Constituent Assembly Members of the 3rd Corps législatif of the Second French Empire Members of the 4th Corps législatif of the Second French Empire Mayors of Paris 19th-century mayors of places in France French revolutionaries French Freemasons French people of the Revolutions of 1848