Jules François Camille Ferry

The French statesman Jules François Camille Ferry (1832-1893) was a major political leader during the first 2 decades of the Third Republic. He played a key role in expanding public education and in developing France's colonial empire.

Jules Ferry was born at Saint-Dié, Vosges Department, on April 5, 1832. On receiving his law degree in 1851, he was admitted to the Paris bar, but he first made his name in journalism as one of the most vigorous critics of the Second Empire. His successes led him into more active politics, and in 1869 he was elected to the legislature from Paris.

Entering the Government of National Defense after the fall of the Empire, Ferry became the top civil administrator for Paris and had to struggle with the difficult problems caused by the siege. His stringent but necessary measures earned him an unpopularity in the capital that lasted throughout his career.

Ferry became minister of public instruction in 1879 and initiated a number of reforms, the most controversial being those aimed at reducing the influence of the Church on education. The state recovered its monopoly in the awarding of degrees, but his proposal to prohibit teaching by members of religious orders (the famous Article 7) was defeated in the Senate. In 1880 he took administrative measures to dissolve unauthorized religious orders. More important was his introduction of legislation to make elementary education compulsory, free, and laic. In September 1880 he became premier and was able to further his program by decrees, but lack of funds and personnel prevented his ambitious plans from being implemented at once.

An ardent colonial expansionist when most republican politicians saw foreign questions only in terms of Alsace-Lorraine and the German menace, Ferry was charged with diverting attention—and troops—away from the Continent. His first ministry ended in November 1881 as a result of criticism of the Tunisian expedition which led to the French protectorate.

Ferry returned to the Ministry of Public Instruction in January 1882. In February 1883 he was again premier and carried out a purge of antirepublican elements in the judiciary. Although his power and prestige seemed as great as ever, this time the opposition to his foreign policy proved fatal to Ferry's career. He supported French involvement in Indochina, but news of a minor defeat there, much exaggerated in the first report, compelled his resignation on March 30, 1885. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the presidency in 1887 and never again played a leading role in government. Shot by an Alsatian fanatic on Dec. 10, 1892, Ferry died in Paris on March 17, 1893.

Further Reading

For an important aspect of Ferry's career see Thomas F. Power, Jr., Jules Ferry and the Renaissance of French Imperialism (1944).

Additional Sources

Guilhaume, Philippe, Jules Ferry, Paris: Encre, 1980. □

Jules Ferry , 1832–93, French statesman. A member of the government of national defense established after the defeat of Emperor Napoleon III in the Franco-Prussian War (1870–71), he later rose to prominence as minister of public instruction (1879–80, 1882). He was twice premier (1880–81, 1883–85). Ferry established the modern French educational system with universal, free, and compulsory education in the primary schools. He secularized the public schools, abolishing religious education in them and barring members of Roman Catholic orders as public-school teachers. Ferry is best known, however, as the builder of the French colonial empire. An exponent of imperialism, he was willing to cooperate with the German chancellor Otto von Bismarck in order to secure French expansion overseas. During his premiership the French occupied Tunis, entered Tonkin and Madagascar, and penetrated the regions of the Niger and the Congo. Ferry was overthrown after a temporary French defeat in Indochina. He was assassinated by a religious fanatic.

Bibliography: See study by T. F. Power (1944, repr. 1966).

Ferry, Jules François Camille (1832–93) French statesman. Prefect of the Seine (1870–71) during its siege in the FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR, his narrow escape (18 March 1871) from the PARIS COMMUNE left him with a strong dislike of extremist politics. After serving as French ambassador in Greece, he was elected to the French Chamber of Deputies (1876–89) and was in government from 1879 to 1885, twice as Prime Minister (1880–81; 1883–85). He was responsible for much liberal legislation, extending freedom of association and of the press and legalizing trade unions. He weakened the grip of the Roman Catholic Church on education, extended higher education, created lycées for girls, and made French elementary education non-clerical (March 1882), free, and compulsory. His ministries also saw wide French colonial development in Tunisia (1881), the Congo (1884), Madagascar (1885), and Indo-China (1885). This latter lost him support and he fell from office. He narrowly failed to be elected President of the Republic in 1887.