List of Presidents of the French Senate

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President of the
French Senate
Gérard Larcher
Acting Senate President
Gérard Larcher
since October 1, 2014
Official seat Palais du Luxembourg , Paris, FranceFranceFrance 
Creation of office 4th October 1958
First official Gaston Monnerville
(In the 5th Republic)
Chairman of senate
Deputy Vice President of the Senate

The French Senate is the upper house of parliament. It is headed by a president. Even if there were senates in the First and Second Empire , they were less a legislative power than an advisory role - similar to the model of the Roman Senate .

France had its first experience with a House of Lords under the Directory from 1795 to 1799, when the Council of Elders with its 250 members provided the upper chamber. With the restoration in 1814, the new chamber of the high nobility was founded, which was the model for the British House of Lords . At first only the high hereditary nobility sat in it, but in the course of the July Revolution of 1830 it became a body for which one was appointed for life.

The Second Republic returned to a one-chamber system after 1848. Shortly after the beginning of the Third Republic , a senate was installed as the upper chamber. In the Fourth Republic , the Senate was renamed the Council of the Republic , but its function remained largely the same. With the Fifth Republic , the traditional name Senate was finally restored.

According to the Constitution of the Fifth Republic, the President of the Senate has another important function in addition to presiding over the Upper House of Parliament: in the event of the President's resignation or death , he becomes the interim President of the Republic until a new election can be held. The protocol ranking in France shows the President of the Senate as the third highest official in the Fifth Republic after the President and the Prime Minister. The election of the Senate President takes place after each partial re-election of the body, i.e. every three years.

First Republic (Directory) (1795–1799)

Le Conseil des Anciens (The Council of the Elders)
president Beginning The End
Claude Antoine Rudel Du Miral October 28, 1795 October 28, 1795
Louis-Marie de La Révellière-Lépeaux October 28, 1795 November 2, 1795
Pierre-Charles-Louis Baudin November 2, 1795 November 23, 1795
François Denis Tronchet November 23, 1795 December 22, 1795
Théodore Vernier December 22, 1795 January 22, 1796
Guillaume François Charles Goupil de Préfelne January 22, 1796 February 20, 1796
Claude Ambroise Régnier February 20, 1796 March 21, 1796
Jacques Antoine Creuzé-Latouche March 21, 1796 April 20, 1796
Jean-Barthélemy Lecouteulx de Canteleu April 20, 1796 May 20, 1796
Charles-François Lebrun May 20, 1796 June 19, 1796
Jean Étienne Marie Portalis June 19, 1796 July 19, 1796
Jean Dussaulx July 19, 1796 August 18, 1796
Honoré Muraire August 18, 1796 September 23, 1796
Roger Ducos September 23, 1796 October 22, 1796
Jean-Girard Lacuée October 22, 1796 November 21, 1796
Jean-Jacques Bréard November 21, 1796 December 21, 1796
Boniface Paradis December 21, 1796 January 20, 1797
Sébastien Ligeret de Beauvais January 20, 1797 February 19, 1797
Joseph Clément Poullain de Grandprey February 19, 1797 March 21, 1797
Jean François Bertrand Delmas March 21, 1797 April 20, 1797
Edme-Bonaventure Courtois April 20, 1797 May 20, 1797
François Barbé-Marbois May 20, 1797 June 19, 1797
Louis Bernard de Saint-Affrique June 19, 1797 July 19, 1797
Pierre Samuel Dupont de Nemours July 19, 1797 August 18, 1797
André Daniel Laffon de Ladebat August 18, 1797 September 4, 1797
Jean-Antoine Marbot September 6, 1797 September 23, 1797
Emmanuel Cretet September 23, 1797 October 22, 1797
Jean-Pierre Lacombe-Saint-Michel October 22, 1797 November 21, 1797
Jean François Philibert Rossée November 21, 1797 December 21, 1797
Jean-Baptiste Marragon December 21, 1797 January 20, 1798
Jean Rousseau January 20, 1798 February 19, 1798
Pardoux Bordas February 19, 1798 March 21, 1798
Étienne Mollevaut March 21, 1798 April 20, 1798
Jacques Poisson de Coudreville April 20, 1798 May 20, 1798
Claude Ambroise Régnier May 20, 1798 June 19, 1798
Jean-Antoine Marbot June 19, 1798 July 19, 1798
Etienne Mayneaud-Bisfranc de Laveaux July 19, 1798 August 18, 1798
Pierre Antoine Laloy August 18, 1798 September 23, 1798
Benoît Michel Decomberousse September 23, 1798 October 22, 1798
Emmanuel Pérès de Lagesse October 22, 1798 November 21, 1798
Jean-Augustin Moreau de Vormes November 21, 1798 December 21, 1798
Jean-Baptiste Perrin des Vosges December 21, 1798 January 20, 1799
Dominique Joseph Garat January 20, 1799 February 19, 1799
Jean-Aimé Delacoste February 19, 1799 March 21, 1799
Mathieu Depère March 21, 1799 April 20, 1799
Claude-Pierre Dellay d'Agier April 20, 1799 May 20, 1799
Charles Claude Christophe Gourdan May 20, 1799 June 19, 1799
Pierre-Charles-Louis Baudin June 19, 1799 July 19, 1799
Louis-Thibaut Dubois-Dubais July 19, 1799 August 18, 1799
Mathieu-Augustin Cornet August 18, 1799 September 24, 1799
Joseph Cornudet des Chaumettes September 24, 1799 October 23, 1799
Louis-Nicolas Lemercier October 23, 1799 November 10, 1799

Consulate (1799–1804)

Le Sénat Conservateur (The Conservation Senate)
president Beginning The End
Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès December 27, 1799 February 13, 1800
François Barthélemy February 13, 1800 February 27, 1801
François Denis Tronchet February 27, 1801 August 2, 1801
François-Christophe Kellermann August 2, 1801 January 18, 1802
Louis-Nicolas Lemercier January 18, 1802 4th August 1802

According to Article 39 of the Constitution of Year X (1802), the Senate was headed by the three consuls until 1804: Napoleon Bonaparte , Jean-Jacques Régis de Cambacérès and Charles-François Lebrun .

First Empire (1804–1814)

Le Sénat Conservateur (The Conservation Senate)
president Beginning The End
Nicolas-Louis François de Neufchâteau May 19, 1804 May 19, 1806
Gaspard Monge May 19, 1806 July 1, 1807
Bernard Germain de Lacépède July 1, 1807 July 1, 1808
Jean-Denis-René de Saint-Vallier July 1, 1808 July 1, 1809
Germain Garnier July 1, 1809 July 1, 1811
Bernard Germain de Lacépède July 1, 1811 July 1, 1813
François Barthélemy July 1, 1813 April 14, 1814

Restoration and Hundred Days (1814–1830)

La Chambre des Pairs (The Pairs Chamber)
president Beginning The End
Charles-Henri Dambray June 4, 1814 March 20, 1815
Jean-Jacques Régis de Cambacérès June 2, 1815 July 7, 1815
Charles-Henri Dambray October 12, 1815 December 12, 1829
Claude-Emmanuel de Pastoret December 17, 1829 August 3, 1830

July Monarchy (1830-1848)

La Chambre des Pairs (The Pairs Chamber)
president Beginning The End
Etienne-Denis Pasquier August 3, 1830 February 24, 1848

Second Empire (1852–1870)

Le Sénat (The Senate)
president Beginning The End
Jerome-Napoleon Bonaparte January 28, 1852 November 30, 1852
Raymond-Theodore Troplong December 30, 1852 March 1, 1869
Adrien Marie Devienne March 3, 1869 July 20, 1869
Eugene Rouher July 20, 1869 September 4, 1870

Third Republic (1876-1940)

Le Sénat (The Senate)
president Beginning The End
Gaston d'Audiffret-Pasquier March 13, 1876 January 15, 1879
Louis-Joseph Martel January 15, 1879 May 25, 1880
Léon Say May 25, 1880 January 30, 1882
Philippe Le Royer February 2, 1882 February 24, 1893
Jules Ferry February 24, 1893 March 17, 1893
Paul Challemel-Lacour March 27, 1893 January 16, 1896
Émile Loubet January 16, 1896 February 18, 1899
Armand Fallières March 2, 1899 January 17, 1906
Antonin Dubost February 16, 1906 January 14, 1920
Léon Bourgeois January 14, 1920 February 22, 1923
Gaston Doumergue February 22, 1923 June 13, 1924
Justin de Selves June 19, 1924 January 9, 1927
Paul Doumer January 14, 1927 May 13, 1931
Albert Lebrun June 11, 1931 May 10, 1932
Jules Jeanneney June 3, 1932 July 9, 1940

Fourth Republic (1946-1958)

Le Conseil de la République (The Council of the Republic)
president Beginning The End
Auguste Champetier de Ribes December 27, 1946 March 18, 1947
Gaston Monnerville March 18, 1947 4th October 1958

Fifth Republic (since 1958)

Le Sénat (The Senate)
president Beginning The End
Gaston Monnerville 4th October 1958 2nd October 1968
Alain Poher 2nd October 1968 2nd October 1992
René Monory October 1, 1992 October 1, 1998
Christian Poncelet October 1, 1998 October 1, 2008
Gérard Larcher October 1, 2008 October 1, 2011
Jean-Pierre Bel October 1, 2011 September 30, 2014
Gérard Larcher October 1, 2014 officiating (as of December 2015)