Marc Caussidière (; 18 May 1808 – 27 January 1861) was a significant personality of the French republican movement of the first half of the 19th century.

Biography

Caussidière was born in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

. Employed at

Saint-Étienne Saint-Étienne (; Franco-Provençal: ''Sant-Etiève''), also written St. Etienne, is a city and the prefecture of the Loire département, in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regi ...

, he took part in the Lyon insurgency of 1834 (in which his brother died). He was sentenced to 20 years in detention but he was pardoned in 1837. Afterward he became a broker and also distributed wines during his travels with the progressive newspaper La Réforme. During the

French Revolution of 1848 The French Revolution of 1848 (), also known as the February Revolution (), was a period of civil unrest in France, in February 1848, that led to the collapse of the July Monarchy and the foundation of the French Second Republic. It sparked t ...

, he fought on the barricades, seized the police headquarters and was appointed prefect of police by the

provisional government A provisional government, also called an interim government, an emergency government, a transitional government or provisional leadership, is a temporary government formed to manage a period of transition, often following state collapse, revoluti ...

. He replaced city sergeants with the guardians of Paris and created the body of the "Guard of the People", composed of all revolutionary elements recently released. The guard consisted of four companies (La Montagnarde, Saint-Just, February and Morisset). Beginning in May 1848, the

Commission In-Commission or commissioning may refer to: Business and contracting * Commission (remuneration), a form of payment to an agent for services rendered ** Commission (art), the purchase or the creation of a piece of art most often on behalf of anot ...

tried unsuccessfully to eliminate the prefecture of police. After the failure of the invasion of the National Assembly on 15 May 1848, he was dismissed from his position as prefect of police by the executive Commission. He resigned his tenure as deputy to the Constituent Assembly. In the elections of early June he was reelected but after the failure of the

June Days Uprising The June Days uprising () was an uprising staged by French workers from 22 to 26 June 1848. It was in response to plans to close the National Workshops, created by the Second Republic in order to provide work and a minimal source of income f ...

, he was forced to flee and took refuge in England and the USA where he resumed his activities as a wine broker. Sentenced in absentia to deportation by the High Court of Justice Bourges for his participation in the demonstration on 15 May 1848, he returned to France after the amnesty of 1859. He wrote ''Memoirs''. He died, aged 52, in Paris.

References

Sources

* https://books.google.com/books?id=rSsEAAAAQAAJ * :fr:Caussidière {{DEFAULTSORT:Caussidiere, Marc 1808 births 1861 deaths 19th-century police officers Politicians from Saint-Étienne The Mountain (1849) politicians Members of the 1848 Constituent Assembly Members of the National Legislative Assembly of the French Second Republic Prefects of police of Paris French people of the Revolutions of 1848 Recipients of French presidential pardons

Biography

See also

References

Sources