Émile François Loubet

Born Dec. 31, 1838, in Marsanne; died Dec. 20, 1929, in Montélimar. French statesman. Lawyer by education.

From 1876 to 1885, Loubet was a member of the Chamber of Deputies as a moderate republican; he was a senator from 1885 to 1899 (president of the Senate from 1896). During 1887-88 he was minister of public works. He served as prime minister (1892) and minister of the interior (1892-93); he used the armed forces to suppress a strike of the workers of Carmo (1892). Late in 1892 he retired as premier as a result of the Panama scandal. He was president of the French Republic from 1899 to 1906. Conservative as his views were, he opposed reactionary nationalistic elements in the Dreyfus Case. In order to establish Russo-French and Anglo-French cooperation, he made trips to St. Petersburg (1902) and London (1903) that served as stages in the formation of the Entente. He played no political role after leaving the presidency.