Félix Faure

Félix François Faure was born in Paris, the son of a maker of small furniture pieces Jean-Marie Faure (1809–1889) and his first wife, Rose Cuissard (1819–1852).

Having started as a tanner and merchant at Le Havre, Faure acquired considerable wealth, was elected to the National Assembly on 21 August 1881, and took his seat as a member of the Left, interesting himself chiefly in matters concerning economics, railways and the navy. In November 1882, he became under-secretary for the colonies in Ferry's ministry, and retained that post till 1885. He held the same post in Tirard's ministry in 1888, and in 1893 was made vice-president of the chamber.[2]

In 1894, he obtained cabinet rank as minister of marine in the administration of Charles Dupuy. In the following January, he was unexpectedly elected President of the Republic upon the resignation of President Casimir-Perier. The principal cause of his elevation was the determination of the various sections of the moderate republican party to exclude Henri Brisson, who had had a plurality of votes on the first ballot, but had failed to obtain an absolute majority. To accomplish this end, it was necessary to unite the party, and such unity could be secured only by the nomination of someone who offended no one. Faure answered this description exactly.[2]

He granted amnesty to the anarchist movements in 1895, enabling the return from exile in England of several famous anarchists, such as Émile Pouget.

Félix Faure's grave at Père Lachaise Cemetery

In 1898 (and for the first few years of the following century), the French automobile industry was the largest in the world. President Faure was not impressed. Invited to address industry leaders at what, in retrospect, is recorded as the first Paris Motor Show, Faure told his audience, "Your cars are very ugly and they smell very bad" ("Vos voitures sont bien laides et sentent bien mauvais !").[3]

His fine presence and his tact on ceremonial occasions rendered the state some service when he received the Tsar at Paris in 1896, and in 1897 returned his visit, after which meeting the Franco-Russian Alliance was publicly announced again. The latter days of Faure's presidency were consumed by the Dreyfus affair, which he was determined to regard as chose jugée (Latin: res judicata, "adjudicated with no further appeal").[2] This drew against him the criticism of pro-Dreyfus intellectuals and politicians, such as Émile Zola and Georges Clemenceau.

Félix Faure was initiated in Le Havre, at "L'aménité", a lodge of Grand Orient de France, on 25 October 1865.[4][5]

Faure's death, as illustrated by Le Petit Journal.

In 1897, Faure met Marguerite Steinheil, who became his mistress. Faure died suddenly at the age of 58 from apoplexy in the Élysée Palace on 16 February 1899, while engaged in sexual activities in his office with the then 30-year-old Marguerite Steinheil.[2]

The French barque President Felix Faure, named for the President, was involved in a 1908 case of shipwreck at the Antipodes Islands, south of New Zealand, the survivors being stranded for sixty days before being rescued.[6]

Faure's liaison with Marguerite Steinheil was the subject of the film The President's Mistress (2009) broadcast on Eurochannel, with Cristiana Reali in Steinheil's role,[7] and was referenced in the opening episode of the television series, Paris Police 1900 (2021), with Évelyne Brochu as Steinheil.[8][9]

• Félix Faure (Paris Métro), a station on line 8 of the Paris Métro
• Si-Mustapha, a town in Algeria formerly named Félix-Faure

• This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Faure, François Félix". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 10 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 209.

• David Bell, et al. eds. Biographical dictionary of French political leaders since 1870 (1990) p. 145.

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• Works by or about Félix Faure at Internet Archive