Background
Francois Paul Jules Grevy was born on August 15, 1807 in Mont-sous-Vaudrey, France.
François Paul Jules Grévy
Francois Paul Jules Grevy was born on August 15, 1807 in Mont-sous-Vaudrey, France.
He studied at the College de l'Arc and at the Collège de Poligny (now named after him), became a law student at the University of Paris.
As a member of the Legislative Assembly in 1849, he protested the coup d'étatd'etat of December 2, 1851, by which Louis Napoleon Bonaparte seized control of the state. In 1871 he reentered politics as a member of the National Assembly, of which he served as president from 1876 to 1879. He remained a deputy after the establishment of the new constitution, and was one of the leaders of the opposition to President MacMahon in the crisis of May 16, 1877. When MacMahon resigned two years later, Grévy succeeded him as president of the Republic and was reelected in 1885.
He took an active part in foreign affairs, but had ceased to be more than a symbol in internal politics, his election and re-election being due equally to his reputation as a republican of 1848 and to the fact that the political leaders could not agree on a more vigorous candidate.
(French edition)
1888