Background
Humbert"s mother was a domestic servant and he was first given her surname, Duchet. But his name was changed when his mother married Casimir Humbert in 1868. His father died a year later.
Humbert"s mother was a domestic servant and he was first given her surname, Duchet. But his name was changed when his mother married Casimir Humbert in 1868. His father died a year later.
Humbert was a self-made manitoba His first job was in a café, but he enlisted himself in the army and became a captain. He attracted the attention of General André who made him his aide-de-camp, and in 1900, when André became Minister for War, he received a post under him.
He entered journalism, becoming secretary to "Le Matin".
In 1906 he was elected deputy for the Meuse Département, then two years later a senator of the Third Republic, becoming vice-president of the senate army commission. Before World War I he wrote much on military subjects, and made speeches criticising the inadequacy of the defences of the French Army, and the insufficiency of officers and munitions.
When the war began in 1914 be became director of "Le Journal". His slogan was "Des canons, des munitions!" He was awarded the Légion d"honneur.
Bolo Pasha Trial In the spring of 1918 Humbert was involved in a controversy involving money supplied to "Le Journal" and proposals by Bolo Pasha who had been executed in the war as a German agent.
In a much-publicised case, Humbert was brought before a Court-martial but was acquitted. Family He died at his home in Paris on 1 November 1927, and is buried in Batignolles Cemetery.
He played an important part in the series of inquiries instigated by General André into the religious and political views of officers.