Auguste Mimerel

Auguste Mimerel

Auguste Mimerel in 1867
Deputy for Nord
In office
13 May 1849 – 2 December 1851
Senator for Nord
In office
26 January 1852 – 4 September 1870
Personal details
Born Pierre Auguste Rémy Mimerel
(1786-06-01)1 June 1786
Amiens, Somme, France
Died 16 April 1871(1871-04-16) (aged 84)
Roubaix, Nord
Nationality French
Occupation Industrialist, politician

Auguste Mimerel (1 June 1786 – 16 April 1871) was a French industrialist and politician. He was owner of a large cotton mill, and was active in industry associations. He became a deputy in the legislature in the short-lived French Second Republic, then a senator during the Second French Empire.

Early years

Auguste Mimerel was born on 1 June 1786 in St Firmin-en-Castillon, Amiens, Somme. He was the third of six children of Antoine Firmin Mimerel (1750–1828) and Guillaine Françoise Florence Le Bas (1761–1830). In 11 May 1809, in Paris, he married Countess Marie-Joséphine Flahaut, daughter of Adrien Joseph Flahaut. They had two children, Count Antoine Auguste Edouard Mimeral (1812–81) and Caroline Augustine Joséphine Mimerel (1816–97).[1]

Career

Mimerel created one of the largest cotton mills in the Nord department. He was in turn President of the Conseil des Prud'hommes (1827), President of the Consultative Chamber of Manufactures (1828), Municipal Councilor of Roubaix (1830), Knight of the Legion of Honour (1834).[2] He was mayor of Roubaix from 9 April 1834 to 7 July 1836.[3] He was General Councilor of Nord (1837), President of the Council (1839), President of the General Council of Manufactures in Paris (1840) and Officer of the Legion of Honor (1846).[2]

In 1841 the work of Villermé, the report of Loiset on insanitary housing in Lille and the intervention of Villeneuve-Bargemont led to a law regulating child labour. The employers of Nord were particularly hostile to the bill, saying that although the children worked long hours their work was not tiring, and it was not possible to separate the work of adults and children. It was unjust to blame industrialists for working-class pauperism. In an open letter of 1841 entitled Pauperism, its increase attributed to industry in a host of writings, Mimerel pointed out that pauperism existed before the industrial revolution, and it was normal for it to be found among workers. He said that manufacturers showed humanity and charity by founding hospices and setting up canteens for their workers.[4]

Association pour la défense du travail national

Mimerel was the leader in organizing the Association pour la défense du travail national (Association for the Defense of National Labour) in 1846. It brought together the four major employers associations: coal mines, eastern industrialists, metallurgists and machine makers.[5] The association was formed to oppose the lowering of tariffs.[6] Mimerel was particularly concerned with competition from England, which "does better and for the same price."[5] In 1846 Jules Hochet, iron master at Fourchambault, became a member of the association.[7] The association's council in 1847 included Antoine Odier (President), Auguste Mimerel (Vice-President), Joseph Perier (Treasurer) and Louis-Martin Lebeuf (Secretary). Members included Henri Barbet, Léon Talabot and Eugène Schneider.[8] The Association was opposed to the reform of the customs system advocated by Laurent Cunin-Gridaine.[9]

Mimerel was president of the association in 1849.[2] He succeeded in excluding foreign products from the Exposition des produits de l'industrie française of 1849. The association may be seen as an ancestor of the Conseil national du patronat français (CNPF). It had a central committee, an office and a director based in Paris, ordinary members and about 40 local committees. The association lasted until 1860, when the Franco-British Trade Treaty of 1860 liberalized trade between the two countries. Although bad for textile manufacturers, the treaty did less damage to coal and steel interests. Auguste Mimerel resigned and the association disintegrated, leaving the great employers' federations to go their own ways.[5]

National politics

Auguste Mimerel ran for election to the legislature on 1 August 1846 for the 3rd constituency of Nord (Lille) but was defeated.[2] He supported the French Revolution of 1848.[2] During the French Second Republic he was a deputy for Nord from 13 May 1849 to 2 December 1851 on the Bonapartist platform.[10] He supported the policy of Napoleon III.[2]

The emperor and empress being received by Mimerel in 1867

In the Second French Empire he was a senator from 26 January 1852 to 4 September 1870.[10] He sat with the Bonapartist majority in the Senate until the revolution of 4 September 1870 during the Franco-Prussian War. He supported protectionist trade policies. He was made a Commander of the Legion of Honour on 1852 and a Grand Office in 1863. He was a member of the jury of the Exposition Universelle (1855).[2] Auguste Mimerel died on 16 April 1871 in Roubaix, Nord.[10]

Notes

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    Sources

    Further reading

    Piat, Jean (1992), Quand Mimerel gouvernait la France, Paris: Impr. Société d'éd. du Pas-de-Calais 

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