Le Père Duchêne ("Old Man Duchesne") is the title of a newspaper which appeared during revolutionary periods of the nineteenth century. It borrowed its title from the original Père Duchesne published by Jacques Hébert during the French Revolution. After Hébert's death, the title reappeared with all sorts of variations (Old Lady Duchesne, Son of Père Duchêne, etc.) from the 1790s on, notably during the Revolution of 1848 and the Paris Commune of 1871 (in editions by publishers Eugène Vermersch, Maxime Vuillaume, and Alphonse Humbert).
Ten issues appeared as an under the title The Illustrious Son of Père Duchêne [tr. note: this can also be translated as Illustrated Son of Père Duchêne, which was an intentional pun], from April 21 through to May 24, 1871 (descriptions below). The collection was able to illustrate the most striking events of the Commune; its last issue appeared during the Commune's end on the "Bloody Week" (Semaine sanglante) - strikingly, even the very end of the Paris government is depicted in the magazine's last issue.
| N° | Republican Date | Gregorian Date | Title | Description | Legend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Floréal 79 | April 21, 1871 | The Vendôme Column | Père Duchesne facing the statue of Napoléon Bonaparte at the top of the Vendôme Column | Sooo! you dirty bugger, you're gonna get screwed down there like that scumbag nephew of yours [i.e.: Napoleon III of France]!... | |
| 6 Floréal 79 | April 26, 1871 | LittleThiers | The Commune [tr. note: personified as the French national symbol, Marianne] holding Thiers in the form of a sickly newborn | And to think anyone would want to force me to recognize that son of a bitch!... | |
| 10 Floréal 79 | April 30, 1871 | General Dombrowski (Jarosław Dąbrowski) | Dombrowski, saber in hand, routing the people of Versailles | A good guy!... God!... | |
| 13 Floréal 79 | May 3, 1871 | The dictator Thiers | Thiers mounted on a snail on the way to Paris | Forward!.. fuck of a fuck!...and watch out for Parisians!... | |
| 17 Floréal 79 | May 7, 1871 | Political puppets | The Commune [Marianne] and Thiers hiding a box of Cayenne pepper (as puppets) | You expect me to put down my stick ... Have you finished ! First, show me what you're hiding behind your back, little fella!.... [pun on Foutriquet, sobriquet for Thiers ] | |
| 20 Floréal 79 | May 10, 1871 | Political puppets | General Vinoy brandishing his big stick over the Commune [Marianne] lying on the ground, breasts bared (as puppets) | The dream of that big jackass, Vinoy. | |
| 24 Floréal 79 | May 14, 1871 | Citizen Courbet | Gustave Courbet bowling over a Morris column | Knocking down all the columns... of Paris | |
| 27 Floréal 79 | May 17, 1871 | The dream of Badinguet (Napoleon III) | Napoléon III as a bat, comparing the weights of Thiers and of the Republic | For governing, always rabid, Here's my plan: - it's splendid! - |
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| 1st Prairial 79 | May 21, 1871 | Identity cards | A young woman facing Mr. Prudhomme (a bourgeois type) [tr.: "prudent man"], who has the newspaper 'le père Duchêne' in his hand, wearing a sign around his neck reading : J. PRUDHOMME |
- Well, my dear Joseph, you've bitched so much about those little boulevard-women, and here you are then, just like them!... They've wasted a card on you too. - It's not the same thing, miss, mine is a civic-minded ("civisme") card and yours is a cynical card ("cynisme")!... |
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| 4 Prairial 79 | May 24, 1871 | Departure from our good ol' Commune | The Son of Duchesne, dressed as a Fédéré, with the Commune (as Marianne) who is packing her suitcase. (During "Bloody Week") | - Well! My dear Commune, what is it you're screwin' around with there?... - Holy Mother! My cute little Duchêne, I'm packing my trunks...since Mr. Thiers has been screwing me for the past eight days. Only, as you see, I'm not hurrying too much. |