Marie François Sadi Carnot (; 11 August 1837 – 25 June 1894) was a French statesman who served as

President of France 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 po ...

from 1887 until his assassination in 1894. His presidency was marked by a series of poorly handled crises.

General Boulanger Georges Ernest Jean-Marie Boulanger (29 April 1837 – 30 September 1891), nicknamed Général Revanche ("General Revenge"), was a French general and politician. An enormously popular public figure during the second decade of the Third Repub ...

's rapid rise and failed attempt to march on the Élysée in 1889 posed the first serious threat to the Republic during Carnot's term. Then came a series of ministerial crises, financial scandals, labour turmoil, anarchist violence, and finally Carnot's own assassination in 1894. The

Panama scandals The Panama scandals (also known as the Panama Canal Scandal or Panama Affair) was a corruption affair that broke out in the French Third Republic in 1892, linked to a French company's failed attempt at constructing a Panama Canal. Close to half ...

, involving bribes to parliamentarians, resulted in major financial losses and deeply embarrassed those involved. The extreme right-wing newspaper ''La Libre Parole'', run by anti-Semitic publicist

Édouard Drumont Édouard Adolphe Drumont (3 May 1844 – 5 February 1917) was a French journalist, author and politician, most often remembered for his antisemitic ideology and animus. He initiated the Antisemitic League of France in 1889, and was the founder ...

, escalated intolerance towards Third Republic politics. Carnot presided over a few achievements. He was well received when he travelled around France, inaugurated the 1889 exhibition celebrating the French Revolution, and facilitated a diplomatic rapprochement with Russia. His term in office bolstered the power and influence of the presidency.

Early life

Marie François Sadi Carnot was the son of the statesman

Hippolyte Carnot Lazare Hippolyte Carnot (6 October 1801, Saint-Omer – 16 March 1888) was a French politician. He was the younger brother of the founder of thermodynamics Sadi Carnot and the second son of the revolutionary politician and general Lazare Nico ...

and was born in

Limoges Limoges ( , , ; , locally ) is a city and Communes of France, commune, and the prefecture of the Haute-Vienne Departments of France, department in west-central France. It was the administrative capital of the former Limousin region. Situated o ...

, Haute-Vienne. His third given name Sadi was in honour of his uncle

Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot (; 1 June 1796 – 24 August 1832) was a French people, French military engineering, military engineer and physicist. A graduate of the École polytechnique, Carnot served as an officer in the Engineering Arm (''le ...

, the engineer who formulated the

second law of thermodynamics The second law of thermodynamics is a physical law based on Universal (metaphysics), universal empirical observation concerning heat and Energy transformation, energy interconversions. A simple statement of the law is that heat always flows spont ...

and is generally regarded as the founder of the subject, who in turn was named after the Persian poet Sadi of Shiraz. Like his uncle, Marie François came to be known as Sadi Carnot. In his scientific-mindedness and Republican leanings, he resembled his grandfather,

Lazare Carnot Lazare Nicolas Marguerite, Comte Carnot (; 13 May 1753 – 2 August 1823) was a French mathematician, physicist, military officer, politician and a leading member of the Committee of Public Safety during the French Revolution. His military refor ...

, the military modernizer and member of the Directory of the French Revolution. He was educated as a

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing i ...

and was a highly distinguished student at both 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 ...

and the

École des Ponts et Chaussées École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * Éco ...

. After his academic course, he obtained an appointment in the public service. His hereditary republicanism caused the

Government of National Defense The Government of National Defense () was the first government of the Third Republic of France from 4 September 1870 to 13 February 1871 during the Franco-Prussian War. It was formed after the proclamation of the Republic in Paris on 4 September ...

to entrust him in 1870 with the task of organizing resistance in the of the

Eure Eure ( ; ; or ) is a department in the administrative region of Normandy, northwestern France, named after the river Eure. Its prefecture is Évreux. In 2021, Eure had a population of 598,934.Seine-Inférieure Seine-Maritime () is a department of France in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the northern coast of France, at the mouth of the Seine, and includes the cities of Rouen and Le Havre. Until 1955 it was named Seine-Inféri ...

, and he was made prefect of Seine-Inférieure in January 1871. In the following month he was elected to 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 ...

by 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.

. He joined the Opportunist Republican parliamentary group, . In August 1878 he was appointed secretary to the minister of public works. He became minister in September 1880 and again in April 1885, moving almost immediately to the

ministry of finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfoli ...

, which post he held under both the

Ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

and the Freycinet administrations until December 1886.

Presidency

When the Daniel Wilson scandals occasioned the downfall of

Jules Grévy François Judith Paul Grévy (15 August 1807 – 9 September 1891), known as Jules Grévy (), was a French people, French lawyer and politician who served as President of France from 1879 to 1887. He was a leader of the Opportunist Republicans, M ...

in December 1887, Carnot's reputation for integrity made him a candidate for the presidency, and he obtained the support of

Georges Clemenceau Georges Benjamin Clemenceau (28 September 1841 – 24 November 1929) was a French statesman who was Prime Minister of France from 1906 to 1909 and again from 1917 until 1920. A physician turned journalist, he played a central role in the poli ...

and many others, so that he was elected by 616 votes out of 827. He assumed office at a critical period, when the republic was all but openly attacked by

. Carnot's ostensible part during this agitation was confined to augmenting his popularity by well-timed appearances on public occasions, which gained credit for the presidency and the republic. When, early in 1889, Boulanger was finally driven into exile, it fell to Carnot to appear as head of the state on two occasions of special interest, the celebration of the centenary of the French Revolution in 1889 and the opening of the

Paris Exhibition Paris Exposition or Paris Exhibition can refer to * French Industrial Exposition of 1844 * Exposition des produits de l'industrie française, held intermittently from 1798 to 1849 * Exposition Universelle (1855), the Paris Exposition of 1855 * Expos ...

of the same year. The success of both was regarded as a popular ratification of the republic, and though continually harassed by the formation and dissolution of ephemeral ministries, by socialist outbreaks, and the beginnings of

anti-Semitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

, Carnot had only one serious crisis to surmount, the

of 1892, which, if they greatly damaged the prestige of the state, increased the respect felt for its head, against whose integrity none could breathe a word. Carnot was in favour of the

Franco-Russian Alliance The Franco-Russian Alliance (, ), also known as the Dual Entente or Russo-French Rapprochement (''Rapprochement Franco-Russe'', Русско-Французское Сближение; ''Russko-Frantsuzskoye Sblizheniye''), was an alliance formed ...

and received the Order of St Andrew from Alexander III.

Assassination

President Carnot was reaching the zenith of his popularity, when, on 24 June 1894, after delivering a public banquet speech in Lyon at the Palais du Commerce, in which he appeared to imply that he would not seek re-election, he was stabbed on the

Rue de la République The Rue de la République () is a street located in the 1st and 2nd arrondissements of Lyon, France. It links the Place de la Comédie in the north to the Place Le Viste in the south, just next to the Place Bellecour, via the Place de la Républ ...

by an Italian

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

named

Sante Geronimo Caserio Sante Geronimo Caserio (; 8 September 187316 August 1894) was an Italian baker, Anarchism, anarchist, and Propaganda of the deed, propagandist by the deed. He is primarily known for Assassination of Sadi Carnot, assassinating Sadi Carnot, the sit ...

. Carnot, transported to the Préfecture du Rhône nearby, died shortly after midnight on 25 June. The stabbing aroused widespread horror and grief, and the president was honoured with an elaborate funeral ceremony in the

Panthéon The Panthéon (, ), is a monument in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, France. It stands in the Latin Quarter, Paris, Latin Quarter (Quartier latin), atop the , in the centre of the , which was named after it. The edifice was built between 1758 ...

on 1 July 1894, after which he was interred in the Panthéon's crypt alongside other notable figures in French history. Caserio called the assassination a political act, was convicted and sentenced to death on 3 August 1894 and executed on 16 August 1894.

References

;Attribution *

Furthere reading

* Bell, David Scott, et al. eds. ''Biographical dictionary of French political leaders since 1870'' (Prentice Hall, 1990). pp 69–70.

External links

* *
Carnot biography
* , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Carnot, Marie Francois Sadi 1837 births 1894 deaths 19th-century presidents of France 19th-century princes of Andorra People from Limoges Politicians from Nouvelle-Aquitaine Opportunist Republicans Ministers of transport of France Finance ministers of France Members of the National Assembly (1871) Members of the 1st Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Members of the 2nd Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Members of the 3rd Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Members of the 4th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Prefects of Seine-Maritime French civil engineers École Polytechnique alumni École des Ponts ParisTech alumni Corps des ponts Recipients of the Royal Order of Kalākaua Assassinated French politicians People murdered in France Deaths by stabbing in France Burials at the Panthéon, Paris Carnot family People murdered in 1894 Assassinated heads of state in Europe Politicians assassinated in the 1890s Assassinated presidents in Europe National presidents assassinated in the 19th century