Arthur Dessoye

Arthur Charles Dessoye (23 August 1854 in Auberive, Haute-Marne – 30 April 1927 in Breuvannes-en-Bassigny, Haute-Marne) was a French journalist, writer, industrialist, and politician.

Biography

Journalism career

Born to a tax collector father, originally from Breuvannes-en-Bassigny, where his family owned a file manufacturing business established in 1827, Arthur Dessoye was one of the founders and editor-in-chief of La Dépêche de Brest et de l'Ouest from 19 November 1886 to 12 April 1897.

• Editor of L'Électeur libre de Chaumont until 1884;
• Editor-in-chief of L'Union Républicaine du Finistère, a tri-weekly four-page newspaper, from 1 April 1884 until 18 November 1886;
• Editor-in-chief of La Dépêche de Brest et de l'Ouest from its creation in 1886 until 1897, succeeding L'Union Républicaine du Finistère.

He married Marie Eugènie Renard in Breuvannes-en-Bassigny on 2 August 1884. One of his witnesses was his friend Jean Macé.

Political career

• Elected general councillor of the Canton of Bourmont from 1904 to 1919, also serving as mayor of Breuvannes
• Elected deputy for Haute-Marne from 1906 to 1919;
• President of the Ligue de l'enseignement from 1906 to 1919;
• Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts from 9 June to 13 June 1914 in the fourth Government of Alexandre Ribot;
• Advocate of electoral reform, he sponsored the law on list voting, enacted on 12 July 1919.

Honours

• Knight of the Legion of Honour on 26 June 1896.

References