Victor Schoelcher , July 22, 1804 , Paris - December 25, 1893 , Uhl, Yvelines ) Victor Scholescher ( Schelcher , Fr. Victor Schoelcher ) is known for his struggle for the abolition of slavery in France, which was crowned with success in 1848 .
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Start of journalistic activities
Alsatian origin ( Fessenheim , Upper Rhine), the son of a wealthy manufacturer, a porcelain merchant. He graduated from the Paris Lyceum Condorcet , was fond of literature and music, was familiar with George Sand , Hector Berlioz and Franz Liszt (later wrote the biography of Handel ). From an early age he devoted himself to literary activity, after a trip to America on commercial matters of his family, he became especially interested in the question of the abolition of slavery. For a better study of this issue, he made a whole series of journeys to those countries where slavery took the most solid roots; visited Mexico , the USA (1829), the Greater and Lesser Antilles (1840), Greece , Egypt , Turkey (1845), Senegal , the Gambia and some other points of the west coast of Africa (1847). The result of these journeys was a series of writings in which Schelscher vividly depicted the horrors of slavery. The most important of them are: “De l'Esclavage des Noirs et de la législation coloniale” (On the Slavery of Blacks and on Colonial Law, 1833); "L'Abolition de l'esclavage" (Abolition of slavery, 1840); Les colonies françaises (French colonies, 1842), Les colonies étrangers et Haïti (Foreign colonies and Haiti , 1843); “L'Egypte en 1845” (Egypt in 1845, 1846); "L'Histoire de l'esclavage pendant les deux dernières années" (The history of slavery in the last two years, 1847).
Schelscher became the first European abolitionist to visit the conquered independence of Haiti . He advocated the replacement of slave labor in the Caribbean colonies by large centralized factories. He was considered the leading European expert on the Caribbean, led a group of correspondent experts in the US, the UK and the Caribbean.
State activity in the Second Republic. Abolition of slavery
At the same time, he took part in the struggle against the July monarchy and, after the revolution of 1848 , entered the service of the maritime ministry as assistant state secretary (March 3, 1848).
Under his chairmanship a special commission was established, which worked out a decree on April 27, 1848 on the abolition of slavery in the French colonies. He should also be credited with carrying out the law on March 12 on the abolition of corporal punishment in the navy. Selected as a deputy of Martinique to the Constituent Assembly (August 9, 1848), and then to the legislature, Schelscher did not cease to fight with supporters of slave owners. By this time, his writings include: "La verité aux ouvriers et cultivateurs de la Martinique" (The Voice of Truth for Workers and Rural Workers of Martinique, 1850); Protestation des citoyens français nègres et mulâtres contre des accusations calomnieuses (protest of blacks and mulattoes, citizens of France, against slanderous accusations, 1851); "Le procès de Marie-Galande" ("The Process of Marie-Galand", 1851) and others.
Joining the radicals (the party of the Mountain ), Schelscher voted against the Roman expedition, made a change in the law on railways, obliging the company to provide closed wagons to third-class passengers, and presented a draft abolition of the death penalty . The latter was already on the line when the coup took place on December 2, 1851. During the struggle on the barricades, Schelscher and Bodin were in the suburbs of Saint-Antoine , calling on the people to defend the Constitution. Expelled from France, he settled in England. Here he wrote “Histoire du crime du 2 décembre” (“The History of the Crime of December 2”, L., 1852) and “Le gouvernement du 2 Décembre” (“The Government of December 2,” ib., 1853). In exile he maintained friendly relations with another famous exile - Victor Hugo . Mentioned in Herzen 's Past and Thoughts among the most prominent immigrants.
Activities during the Third Republic
Refusing to use the amnesty declared in 1859, he returned to France only on August 6, 1870, was appointed colonel of the headquarters of the National Guard and commanded part of the artillery during the siege of Paris . Selected next year as a deputy to the National Assembly , during the Paris Commune he was among the deputies who were trying to reconcile the warring. By order of the Public Rescue Committee, he was arrested, but soon released. On December 16, 1875, he was elected irremovable senator . In the Senate, he joined the Party of the Left Republicans ( Union républicaine ), again spoke out in defense of his project on the abolition of the death penalty , demanded a full amnesty for the communes, constantly defended the interests of the colonies and preached the most extreme anti-church views. In addition to the above works, Schelscher published more:
- The Life of Haendel (Life of Handel, L., 1857);
- "The Sunday rest" ("Sunday rest", ib., 1870);
- “Le crime de décembre en province” (December crime in the province, 1875);
- "La grande conspiration du pillage et du meurtre à la Martinique" (The Great Plot for the Plunder and Extermination of Martinique, 1875);
- "Le vrai Saint Paul" ("True Saint Paul", 1879);
- “L'Esclavage au Sénégal en 1880” (“Slavery in Senegal in 1880”, 1880);
- "Polémique coloniale, 1871-1881.1882-1885" ("Colonial Controversy", 1882, 1886);
- “Vie de Toussaint Louverture” (“Life of Toussaint Louverture ”, 1889) and others.
Memory
Schelcher has monuments on Guadeloupe , Martinique and many French cities. In honor of Schelscher during his lifetime (1888), the fourth largest commune of Martinique was named, and later also the most prestigious lyceum of the island. Guadalupe and Fessenheim have its museums. In the name of Schelscher several ships are named. In 1949, his remains were transferred from the Pere Lachaise cemetery to the Pantheon . Simultaneously with Schelscher, the first Frenchman of African descent, Felix Eboué, who was awarded this honor, was buried in the Pantheon.
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 http://www.senat.fr/senateur-3eme-republique/schoelcher_victor1534r3.html
- ↑ 1 2 BNF ID : 2011 open data platform .
- ↑ 1 2 Sycomore / Assemblée nationale
- ↑ Moiroux J. Le cimetière du Père-Lachaise - Paris : 1908. - P. 173.
Literature
- Schelcher, Victor // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron : 86 tons. (82 tons and 4 extra.). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
- Legouvé, "Soixante ans des souvenirs" (P., 1887); H. Castets, “V. Schoelcher "(" Revue encyclopédique ", 1893).