Henri-Auguste Lozé

Henri-Auguste Lozé

Henri-Auguste Lozé
January 20, 1850(1850-01-20) – January 26, 1915(1915-01-26) (aged 65)
Place of birth Le Cateau-Cambrésis
Place of death Paris
Allegiance France
Years of service 1888–1893
Rank Préfet de Police
Awards Commander of the Legion of Honour

Henri-Auguste Lozé was a French politician who was Prefect of Police (Préfet de Police) for Paris from 1888 to 1893, a member of the National Assembly (French: Assemblée nationale) of the third republic (French: La Troisième République), from 1902 to 1906 and a member of the Senate (Sénat) from 1906 to 1915 .[1]

Contents

Biography

Henri-Auguste Lozé was born in Le Cateau-Cambrésis in the Nord department near the French border with Belgium. His father is described as an industrialist and mayor.[1] He studied law at Collège Sainte-Barbe and embarked on a career as a lawyer and public administrator that took in provincial postings that included deputy prefectures at Commercy, Béthune and Brest between 1877 to 1884. He was appointed prefect of Cantal in south central France on 5 October 1884.

Préfet de Police 1888 - 1893

In 1888 Lozé became Prefect of Police of the Seine (including Paris)succeeding the future Prime Minister of France Léon Bourgeois.He held the position until 1893. The relationship existing at this time between the Paris police and the general populace was not one of mutual repect and Lozé’s tenure did very little to change the relationship. In 1893 major riots broke out in Paris after a confrontation between a student called Nuger and a policeman as a result of which Nuger suffered a fatal wound. [note 1][2] There was widespread concern that the Paris barricades erected in the aftermath of the student riots could seriously effect the governance of Paris and ultimately the French Republic. Lozé was heavily criticised for perceived inaction during the disturbances and was replaced as Prefect of Police by the authoritarian Louis Lépine who is credited with restoring order and subsequently implementing the reforms required for policing a Modern French state.[3]

Political career

Lozé was next appointed France’s ambassador to Vienna a position he held for four years until 1897. In September of that year he was then offered the post of General Governor of Algeria but declined [1] preferring a low key post in the Ministry of the Interior.

By 1902 Lozé was representing the Commune of Cambrai in the National Assembly. His political actions during this period were compatible with a man of libertarian and liberal inclinations. He is recorded as opposing the lien securities that favoured distillers and speaking in favour of increased decentralisation of powers to the communes. On July 3 he voted against the bill separating the church from the state.[4]

In 1906 after a close fought election Lozé was elected to the Senate where he served until his death in 1915. Lozé was a Commander (Commandeur)of the Legion of Honour

References

  1. ^ a b c René Bargeton, Dictionnaire biographique des préfets – septembre 1870 a mai 1982, Paris, National Archives, 1994
  2. ^ Lépine, Famous Paris Chief of Police, To Retire", The New York Times, February 25, 1913
  3. ^ Jean Marc Berliere, L’institution policiere sous la IIIeme Republique, Dijon 1991
  4. ^ http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/sycomore/biographies/joly/asp/loze-henri-auguste.asp Information taken from national assembly archives

Notes

  1. ^ The riots that took place in July 1893 arose out of a seemingly trivial incident involving the arrest of an actress Sarah Brown, a student called Nuger and a confrontation with a policeman, the consequence of which was the death of Nuger. On the following Monday, 1,000 demonstrators marched onto the Chamber of Deputies, determined to be provided with an adequate explanation. By the end of the day barricades were erected around the district of the Boulevard St. Germain and Paris seemed on the brink of revolution.

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