Pierre Tirard

Pierre Tirard

Pierre Emmanuel Tirard (born September 27, 1827 in Geneva , † November 4, 1893 in Paris ) was a French politician and two-time Prime Minister (December 12, 1887 to April 3, 1888 and February 22, 1889 to March 17, 1890).

Life

Born in Switzerland to French parents, he first studied in his hometown and later worked as a civil engineer. After five years as a government official, he decided to become a jewelry dealer. His declared opposition to the Second Empire culminated in 1869 in support for a radical opponent of Ollivier . For this he became mayor of the 11th arrondissement of Paris and a member of the Chamber of Deputies for the Seine department . Nominated as a candidate for the National Assembly by the Paris Commune , he protested against the tyranny of the Central Committee. After fleeing Paris he was a member of the National Assembly in Versailles , where he represented the extreme left.

In 1876 and 1877 he was again a member of the Chamber of Deputies in Paris, where he represented the 1st Arrondissement. He dealt mainly with financial issues and was briefly President of the Customs Commission before he was appointed Minister of Agriculture and Trade by Prime Minister William Henry Waddington in March 1879 . He then retained this ministerial office in the cabinets of Prime Ministers Charles de Saulces de Freycinet (1879 to 1880) and Jules Ferry (1880 to 1881). In the 2nd Freycinet cabinet (1882) he was Minister of Commerce and later Minister of Finance in the cabinets of Prime Ministers Charles Duclerc (1882 to 1883), Armand Fallières (1883) and Ferry (1883 to 1885).

When Carnot became President of the Republic in 1887, he commissioned him to form a government. He had to clarify the Wilson scandal , which led to the resignation of President Jules Grévy , and at the same time take action against the revisionist agitation of General Georges Ernest Boulanger . His refusal to amend the 1875 constitution led to his resignation on March 30, 1888. During his first government he was also Minister of Finance. A year later, he became prime minister again and decided to take Boulanger and his key supporters to the Supreme Court. However, the questioning before the Supreme Court was thwarted by General Boulanger's flight. He had Philippe, Duke of Orleans , arrested, who had paid an incognito visit to France. On March 15, 1890, he resigned as prime minister because of the question of the Franco-Turkish trade agreement. In his second government he was also Minister for Trade and Industry, and from March 14, 1889, Colonial Minister.

In the cabinet of Alexandre Ribot (1892 to 1893) he replaced Maurice Rouvier as finance minister and died in this office in Paris.