5 avril 1832
17 mars 1893
Ferry, Jules (1832-1893)
Jules Ferry (1832-1893) naît à Saint-Dié (Vosges) dans une famille bourgeoise aisée de fondeurs de cloches, établis à Saint-Dié en 1718. Son grand-père, François-Joseph, a été le maire de la ville et son père, Charles-Edouard, avocat. Après des études au lycée impérial de Strasbourg, il obtient une licence en droit à Paris et devient avocat. Sous le Second Empire, Ferry collabore également à des journaux comme La Presse, Le courrier de Paris, Le Temps, dans lesquels il publie des articles critiquant le pouvoir impérial : le pamphlet intitulé Les comptes fantastiques d’Haussmann, étrillant la gestion de Paris par le préfet et la spéculation liée aux grands travaux lui vaut la célébrité. Républicain convaincu, il fréquente le groupe des opposants à l’Empire mené par Gambetta, Lazare Carnot, Garnier-Pagès.
Sa carrière politique commence véritablement en 1869, lorsqu’il est élu député républicain de la 6e circonscription de Paris. Une première tentative, en 1863, s’était soldée par un échec : il avait dû retirer sa candidature en faveur de celle de Garnier-Pagès. Dans sa profession de foi, il avait mis en avant la liberté de la presse, la liberté de réunion et d’association et la liberté d’enseignement, ainsi que la séparation absolue de l’Église et de l’État.
Adversaire de la déclaration de guerre à la Prusse, il prend la tête d’une des colonnes qui se rend à l’Hôtel de Ville le 4 septembre 1870 pour y proclamer la République. Il devient alors membre du gouvernement de la Défense nationale, d’abord comme secrétaire. Deux jours plus tard, il est nommé délégué pour l’administration du département de la Seine (l’équivalent de préfet), chargé de rétablir les services de la banlieue situés entre l’enceinte et les forts et de créer le corps des brancardiers ambulanciers. Le 15 novembre 1870, il est nommé maire de Paris en remplacement d’Étienne Arago, démissionnaire. Devant l’impossibilité d’assurer un ravitaillement correct durant le siège, il impose aux Parisiens des restrictions alimentaires qui le rendent très impopulaire et lui valent le surnom de « Ferry-Famine ». La commission mixte de l’enseignement qu’il met en place alors affirme déjà la nécessité d’une instruction gratuite et obligatoire pour tous les enfants. Après la conclusion de l’armistice, Jules Ferry se présente aux élections législatives dans sa circonscription natale des Vosges et est réélu député le 8 février 1871 ; il le sera ensuite régulièrement jusqu’en 1889. Il continue toutefois à exercer ses fonctions de maire de Paris jusqu’au 18 mars. Dès le premier jour de l’insurrection de la Commune de Paris, il fuit la ville et rejoint le gouvernement à Versailles. Il reste cependant officiellement maire de Paris jusqu’au 5 juin 1871, même si l’éloignement rend impossible l’exercice de ses fonctions.
En 1871, il est élu conseiller général du Thillot (Vosges) et prend même la vice-présidence du conseil général. Adolphe Thiers l’envoie pourtant à cette époque en Grèce en tant qu’ambassadeur, afin de résoudre le différend entre la Grèce, l’Italie et la France au sujet de la gestion des mines du Laurion (1872-1873).
Revenu en France à la chute de Thiers, il devient l’un des chefs de l’opposition républicaine jusqu’à l’élection de Jules Grévy à la présidence. Vice-président puis président du groupe de la gauche républicaine à l’assemblée, il vote contre l’abrogation des lois d’exil des membres des anciennes familles régnantes et pour le retour de l’assemblée à Paris et se prononce en faveur de l’ensemble des lois constitutionnelles.
Après la démission de Mac-Mahon et l’avènement de Jules Grévy à la présidence, il devient, en 1879, ministre de l’Instruction publique et des Beaux-Arts dans le cabinet Waddington. Ses premières mesures sont, en 1879, pour la création d’une École normale de filles à Sèvres et d’une agrégation féminine, la nomination de Ferdinand Buisson comme directeur de l’enseignement primaire et, en 1880, pour la suppression de la collation des grades universitaires par l’enseignement privé et l’expulsion des congrégations religieuses non autorisées.
Président du Conseil du 23 septembre 1880 au 10 novembre 1881, il étend aux jeunes filles le bénéfice de l’enseignement secondaire d’État et instaure la gratuité de l’enseignement primaire.
De nouveau ministre de l’Instruction sous le premier ministère de Freycinet (31 janvier au 29 juillet 1882), il promulgue la loi relative à l’obligation et à la laïcité de l’enseignement.
Il est de nouveau président du Conseil du 21 février 1882 au 30 mars 1885, charge qu’il cumule avec le ministère de l’Instruction publique et des Beaux-Arts jusqu’au 20 novembre 1883. Anticlérical, mais pas antireligieux, il n’impose pas de monopole en matière d’éducation et laisse subsister l’enseignement confessionnel.
Il se montre également un partisan convaincu de l’expansion coloniale de la France et c’est pour prendre le portefeuille des Affaires étrangères qu’il abandonne, en novembre 1883, celui de l’Instruction publique. Il obtient le protectorat de la Tunisie le 12 mai 1881 par le traité du Bardo et lance l’explorateur Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza à la conquête du Congo en 1879. Il pacifie aussi Madagascar et engage la France dans la colonisation du Tonkin. Cette dernière entreprise aura raison de sa popularité : la France, s’étant heurtée aux intérêts de la Chine, doit évacuer préventivement la ville de Lang Son. Une mauvaise interprétation des évènements due à un dysfonctionnement du télégraphe fait croire à un désastre militaire et une perte de toute la région du delta du Fleuve rouge. La Bourse plonge à Paris et entraîne la chute du gouvernement Ferry le 30 mars 1885.
L’ « Affaire du Tonkin » éloigne définitivement Jules Ferry de toute fonction gouvernementale. Désormais haï, victime d’un second attentat en 1885 (le premier avait eu lieu en 1883) et ayant perdu le soutien des radicaux, il échoue à l’élection présidentielle du 3 décembre 1887 face à Sadi Carnot, puis lors des élections législatives de 1889.
Le Conseil général des Vosges, où il siégeait toujours depuis 1871, lui offre néanmoins un lot de consolation en l’envoyant au Sénat en janvier 1891. Porté à sa présidence en février 1893, il meurt un mois plus tard d’une crise cardiaque.
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