Édouard Lockroy
Édouard Lockroy (18 July 1838 – 22 November 1913) was a French politician born in Paris, the son of Joseph Philippe Simon (1803–1891), an actor and dramatist who took the name of Lockroy, and of Antoinette Stéphanie Lockroy who wrote two books of fairy tales (Les fées de la famille et Contes à mes nièces).
Revolutionary
Lockroy began studying art, but in 1860 enlisted as a volunteer under
Radical politician
In March Lockroy signed the proclamation for the election of the
Lockroy was returned to the Chamber in 1873 as Radical deputy for Bouches-du-Rhône in 1876, 1877 and 1881 for Aix, and in 1881 he was also elected in the 11th arrondissement of Paris. He chose to sit for Paris, and was repeatedly re-elected. During the elections of 1893 he was shot at by a cab-driver poet named Moore, but was not seriously injured. For the first ten years of his parliamentary life he voted consistently with the extreme left, but then adopted a more opportunist policy, and gave his unreserved support to the Brisson ministry of 1885.[1]
Cabinet member
In the new Freycinet cabinet formed in January 1886 Lockroy held the portfolio of commerce and industry, which he retained in the Goblet ministry of 1886–1887. In 1885 he had been returned at the head of the poll for Paris, and his inclusion in the Freycinet ministry was taken to indicate a prospect of reconciliation between Parisian Radicalism and official Republicanism. During his tenure of the portfolio of commerce and industry he made the preliminary arrangements for the Exposition of 1889, and in a witty letter he defended the erection of the Eiffel Tower against artistic Paris.[2]
After the
Lockroy gave his support to the
Works
Lockroy was a persistent and successful advocate of a strong naval policy, in defence of which he published:
- La Marine de Guerre (1890)
- Six mois rue Royale (1897)
- La Défense navale (1900)
- Du Weser à la Vistula (1901)
- Les Marines française et allemande (1904)
- Le Programme naval (1906)
His other works include M. de Moltke et la guerre future (1891) and Journal d'une bourgeoise pendant la Révolution (1881) derived from the letters of his great-grandmother.
Personal life
In 1877 Lockroy married Alice Lehaene, the widowed daughter-in-law of the poet Victor Hugo.[3] He was the stepfather of Jeanne Hugo. In 1913 he published his memoirs, Au hasard de la vie : Notes et Souvenirs. He died on 22 November 1913, and was buried three days later in the Père Lachaise Cemetery.[4]
Notes
- ^ a b c Chisholm 1911, p. 854.
- ^ Chisholm 1911, pp. 854–855.
- ^ a b c Chisholm 1911, p. 855.
- Gallica(in French)
References
- public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Lockroy, Édouard". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 16 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 854–855. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the