Louis-Mathieu, comte Molé (; 24 January 1781 – 23 November 1855) was a French
statesman and a close friend and associate of
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 ...
, King of the French 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 ...
(1830–1848).
Biography
Molé was born in Paris. His father, a president of the
parlement
Under the French Ancien Régime, a ''parlement'' () was a provincial appellate court of the Kingdom of France. In 1789, France had 13 ''parlements'', the original and most important of which was the ''Parlement'' of Paris. Though both th ...
of Paris, who came of the family of the famous president noted below, was
guillotine
A guillotine ( ) is an apparatus designed for effectively carrying out executions by Decapitation, beheading. The device consists of a tall, upright frame with a weighted and angled blade suspended at the top. The condemned person is secur ...
d during the
Terror. Count Molé's early days were spent in
Switzerland
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
and in England with his mother, a relative of
Lamoignon-Malesherbes.
On his return to France, he studied at the
Ecole Centrale des Travaux Publics, and his social education was accomplished in the salon of Pauline de Beaumont, the friend of
Châteaubriand and
Joubert. A volume of ''Essais de morale et de politique'' introduced him to the notice of
Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...
, who attached him to the staff of 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 ...
. He became master of requests in 1806, and next year prefect of the
Côte-d'Or
Côte-d'Or () is a département in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of Northeastern France. In 2019, it had a population of 534,124. , Councillor of State and Director-General of Bridges and Roads in 1809, and
Count of the Empire in the autumn of the same year.
He served as Napoleon's advisor on Jewish affairs and was heavily involved with Napoleon's gathering of a Jewish
Grand Sanhedrin in 1807. Mole initially did not support
Jewish emancipation, though he seems to have moderated his position over the course of his involvement with the Sanhedrin and particularly
Abraham Furtado.
In November 1813, he became
Minister of Justice. Although he resumed his functions as Director-General during the
Hundred Days, he excused himself from taking his seat 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 ...
and was apparently not seriously compromised, for
Louis XVIII
Louis XVIII (Louis Stanislas Xavier; 17 November 1755 – 16 September 1824), known as the Desired (), was King of France from 1814 to 1824, except for a brief interruption during the Hundred Days in 1815. Before his reign, he spent 23 y ...
confirmed his appointment as Director-General and made him a peer of France. Molé supported the policy of the
duc de Richelieu, who in 1817 entrusted to him the direction of the Ministry of Marine, which he held until December 1818.
From that time, he belonged to the moderate opposition, and he accepted the result of the
revolution of 1830 without enthusiasm. He was
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...
in the first cabinet of
Louis Philippe's reign, and was confronted with the task of reconciling the European powers to the change of government. The real direction of foreign affairs, however, lay less in his hands than in those of
Talleyrand, who had gone to London as the ambassador of the new king.
After a few months in office, Molé retired, and it was not until 1836 that the fall of
Thiers led to his becoming
Prime Minister
A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
of a new government, in which he held the portfolio of foreign affairs. One of his first actions was the release of the ex-ministers of
Charles X Charles X may refer to:
* Charles X of France (1757–1836)
* Charles X Gustav (1622–1660), King of Sweden
* Charles, Cardinal de Bourbon (1523–1590), recognized as Charles X of France but renounced the royal title
See also
*
* King Charle ...
, and he had to deal with the disputes with Switzerland and with the Strasburg coup of
Louis-Napoléon. He withdrew the French garrison from
Ancona
Ancona (, also ; ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region of central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona, homonymous province and of the region. The city is located northeast of Ro ...
, but pursued an active policy in
Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
and in
Algeria
Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...
.
Personal and political differences rapidly arose between Molé and his chief colleague,
Guizot, and led to an open rupture in March 1837 in face of the general opposition to a grant to the
duc de Nemours. After some attempts to secure a new combination, Molé reconstructed his ministry in April, Guizot being excluded. The general election in the autumn gave him no fresh support in the Chamber of Deputies, while he had now to face a formidable coalition between Guizot, the Left Centre under Thiers, and politicians of the Dynastic Left and the Republican Left. Molé, supported by Louis Philippe, held his ground against the general hostility until the beginning of 1839, when, after acrid discussions on the address, the chamber was dissolved. The new house showed little change in the strength of parties, but Molé resigned on 31 March 1839.
A year later he was elected to the
Académie française
An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...
, and though he continued to speak frequently, he took no important share in party politics. Louis Philippe sought his help in his vain efforts to form a ministry in February 1848. After the
revolution
In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...
, he was deputy for the
Gironde
Gironde ( , US usually , ; , ) is the largest department in the southwestern French region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Named after the Gironde estuary, a major waterway, its prefecture is Bordeaux. In 2019, it had a population of 1,623,749. to the Constituent Assembly, and in 1849 to the Legislative Assembly, where he was one of the leaders of the Right until the coup d'état on 2 December 1851 drove him from public life.
He died in the family home at
Molé's short biography in Napoleon & Empire website, displaying photographs of the castle and the church
/ref> in Épinay ( Seine-et-Oise) on 23 November 1855 and was buried in the little church of the village.
References
* Paul Thureau-Dangin, ''Histoire de la monarchie de juillet'' (1884)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mole, Louis-Mathieu
1781 births
1855 deaths
Politicians from Paris
Counts Molé
French Roman Catholics
Orléanists
Party of Order politicians
Prime ministers of France
Ministers of marine and the colonies
Members of the Chamber of Peers of the Hundred Days
Members of the Chamber of Peers of the Bourbon Restoration
Members of the Chamber of Peers of the July Monarchy
Members of the 1848 Constituent Assembly
Members of the National Legislative Assembly of the French Second Republic
Members of Parliament for Gironde
Prefects of Côte-d'Or
Members of the Académie Française
Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour