1855 in France

Events from the year 1855 in France.

Incumbents

• Monarch – Napoleon III

Events

• 1 March – Compagnie Générale des Omnibus established to secure a monopoly over horse-buses in Paris.
• 16 April – Emperor Napoleon III, with Empress Eugénie, begins a 6-day state visit to Britain.
• 18 April – The Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855, requested by Napoleon III for the Exposition Universelle (opening 15 May), first appears.
• 15 May–15 November – Exposition Universelle (an early World's fair) officially opens in Paris.
• 16 June – Compagnie des chemins de fer de l'Ouest formed by amalgamation.
• 16 August – Battle of Chernaya River: Russian troops are defeated by French and Sardinian forces in the Crimean War.
• 18 August – Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, with Prince Albert, begins a 10-day state visit to Paris, the first visit of a reigning British monarch to France since 1413. While there, she visits the Exposition Universelle.
• 7 September – Battle of Malakoff, French victory over Russian forces, part of the siege of Sevastopol in the Crimean War.
• 11 September – Siege of Sevastopol (1854–1855) ends in Franco-British victory.
• 17 October – Battle of Kinburn (Crimean War) – Combined French and British forces subdue Russian shore forts. The successful use of French floating batteries makes this the first use of modern ironclad warships in action.
• 17 December – London General Omnibus Company established in Paris as the Compagnie Générale des Omnibus de Londres; in the following year it will absorb a substantial proportion of horse-bus operators in London.
• Undated – Réunion des Organismes d'Assurance Mutuelle (ROAM) association is founded.

Births

• 20 January – Ernest Chausson, composer (died 1899)
• 15 February – Jean-Joseph Carriès, sculptor, ceramist, and miniaturist (died 1894)
• 18 February – Jean Jules Jusserand, author and diplomat (died 1932)
• 16 March – Achille Maffre de Baugé, poet (died 1928)
• 27 April – Caroline Rémy de Guebhard, socialist, journalist and feminist (died 1929)
• 27 September – Paul Émile Appell, mathematician (died 1930)
• 5 November – Léon Teisserenc de Bort, meteorologist (died 1913)
• 10 November – Alexandre Darracq, automobile manufacturer (died 1931)

Deaths

• 15 January – Henri Braconnot, chemist and pharmacist (born 1780)
• 26 January – Gérard de Nerval, poet, essayist and translator (born 1808)
• 3 March
• Jacques-Charles Dupont de l'Eure, lawyer and Prime Minister (born 1767)
• Antoine-Geneviève-Héraclius-Agénor de Gramont, aristocrat (born 1789)
• 18 April – Jean-Baptiste Isabey, painter (born 1767)
• 26 May – Jean Isidore Harispe, Marshal of France (born 1768)
• 10 June – Jacques-Jean Barre, engraver (born 1793)
• 22 July – Raymond Gayrard, sculptor (born 1807)
• 23 October – François André Michaux, botanist (born 1770)
• 25 November – Pierre-Justin-Marie Macquart, entomologist (born 1778)
• 2 December – Frédéric Berat, poet and songwriter (born 1801)

The arts

• 15 May–15 November – The Exposition Universelle includes a retrospective of the paintings of Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres. Gustave Courbet, having had several paintings rejected for the Exposition, exhibits in a temporary "Pavillon du Réalisme" adjacent.
• 13 June – Verdi's opera Les vêpres siciliennes (The Sicilian Vespers) is premiered in Paris.
• 5 July – Jacques Offenbach inaugurates performances of operettas as director of his own Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens.
• October – Victor Hugo moves to Hauteville House, Saint Peter Port, Guernsey, in the Channel Islands, accompanied by his mistress, Juliette Drouet.
• Jean-François Millet produces the engraving "Study of a Woman Churning Butter".

References