He was born in Castres into a bourgeois family and went on to pursue brilliant literary studies. Normalien, associate professor of philosophy, he was elected deputy of Carmaux, in the Tarn, in 1885 at the age of 26. A moderate republican deputy, he gradually evolved towards socialism by supporting the Carmaux strike and taking the side of the miners. In 1904, he founded the newspaper L'Humanité and the following year created the Socialist Party SFIO. The same year, he was one of the drafters of the law of separation of Church and State.
Through his articles in the press and his political role, he became the spokesperson and representative of the workers. Humanist, supporter of a peaceful socialism, he is involved in the defense of many causes:the Dreyfus affair, the abolition of the death penalty. A talented speaker, he does not hesitate to take up the defense of the weakest. His pacifist ideas nevertheless made him unpopular on the eve of the First World War. It was in this context that on July 31, 1914, he was assassinated in Paris at the Café du Croissant by Raoul Villain, an enthusiastic nationalist. His remains were transferred to the Pantheon in 1924.
1859 - 1914
Status
Teacher
Socialist
Journalist