Pierre Baudin (1863-1917) : a radical-socialist at the Belle Époque
Pierre BAUDIN (1863-1917) : un radical-socialiste à la Belle Epoque
Résumé
Pierre Baudin (1863-1917), was the nephew of Alphonse Baudin, a Deputy killed on the barricades on December 3rd 1851, and a French statesman. Although a popular political figure of the Third Republic, Pierre Baudin has not been given sufficient recognition today. As a radical-socialist, he was elected to the Paris Municipal Council in 1890. There, he defended, with remarkable skills, the Rights of the City of Paris. After serving as a General Budget Reporter for three years, he was elected Vice-President of the Council in 1895 and subsequently elected President, before the age of 33, in 1896. He entered the chamber as Deputy as early as 1898, and, as the only member of his party, he was appointed the following year, at the age of 36, Minister of Public Works in the Waldeck-Rousseau cabinet. During his ministry, he chose to relinquish Paris’s eleventh arrondissement and run for office in Belley. A dissident of the Combiste movement, he had to oppose the orthodox radicals in his département from 1903 to 1905. He was easily re-elected to the chamber in 1902 and 1906, however, and he was even able to pursue the career of a journalist that he had launched successfully in 1890. He was elected President of the French Association of Sports Journalists in 1905 and subsequently elected Vice-President of the Association of Parisian Journalists in 1907, which he briefly chaired in 1915, and as an administrator beyond compare, he was appointed General Budget Reporter at the chamber in 1905 and 1906. He also established himself as a businessman from 1906, becoming [the first] President of the French-American bank, but only for a year, and President of the International Society of the Berlitz schools from 1907 to 1913. Turned Briandiste, he was elected to the senate by the département of Ain in 1909, and, in 1910, he was appointed Ambassador Extraordinary in Argentina. Upon his return to the Palais du Luxembourg, he was very active in contributing key reports on foreign affairs to the senate. He was appointed Minister of Marine in 1913 and was charged with a propaganda mission in Latin America in 1915. A relentless patriot, Baudin never stopped warning his contemporaries against the German threat until his death, due to a serious illness, in 1917.
Neveu du député Alphonse Baudin tué sur les barricades le 3 décembre 1851, Pierre Baudin (1863-1917) est un homme politique de la Troisième République insuffisamment reconnu aujourd’hui. Élu radical-socialiste au Conseil municipal de Paris en 1890, il y accomplit un parcours exemplaire au service de la défense des Droits de Paris. Rapporteur général du Budget pendant trois ans, il devient viceprésident du Conseil en 1895 et président en 1896, à moins de 33 ans. Député dès 1898, il est nommé, l’année suivante, à 36 ans, à peine, ministre des Travaux publics du cabinet Waldeck-Rousseau, le seul de son groupe politique. Il opte, en 1900, pendant son ministère, pour le siège de Belley, abandonnant le 11e arrondissement de la capitale. Dissident du combisme, il doit lutter contre les radicaux orthodoxes de son département pendant la période 1903-1905. Réélu aisément à la Chambre, en 1902 et 1906, il poursuit une belle carrière de journaliste entamée en 1890. Président de l’association des journalistes sportifs, en 1905, vice-président, en 1907, de l’association des journalistes parisiens (dont il sera l’éphémère président en 1915), administrateur hors pair, il est rapporteur général du budget à la Chambre en 1905 et 1906. P. Baudin est également un homme d’affaires à partir de 1906, en devenant - pendant un an - président de la banque franco-américaine et de la Société internationale des Écoles Berlitz de 1907 à 1913. Sénateur de l’Ain, en 1909, devenu briandiste, il est nommé, en 1910, ambassadeur extraordinaire en Argentine. De retour au Palais du Luxembourg, il se montre d’une rare activité, rapportant d’importants dossiers de politique étrangère notamment. Ministre de la Marine en 1913, il conduit, en 1915, une mission de propagande en Amérique latine. Patriote exigeant, il a dénoncé inlassablement la menace allemande jusqu’à son décès, par maladie, en 1917.
| Origine | Version validée par le jury (STAR) |
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