Gambetta, Léon

Gambetta, Léon (1838-1882), French lawyer and statesman, who played a leading part in the formation of the Third Republic.

Gambetta was born on April 2, 1838, in Cahors, and studied law in Paris. He began to practise in 1860 and through speeches and articles soon became known for his opposition to the regime of Napoleon III. In 1868, while defending a journalist who had been banned by the government, Gambetta attacked, in a speech that made him famous, the coup d'état of 1851 by which Napoleon had established the Second Empire.

Gambetta was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 1869. Although he first opposed the declaration of war against Prussia in 1870, he worked vigorously for the French cause once war had been declared. On September 4, 1870, three days after the Battle of Sedan, in which Napoleon III was captured by the Germans, Gambetta led the Parisian republicans to proclaim the establishment of the Third Republic. He escaped from besieged Paris in a balloon, established headquarters at Tours, and attempted to reorganize the French army in the provinces. Assuming the direction of French affairs, he was, by popular consent, dictator of France for five months. Urging the French to fight on, he regarded the military surrender (at Metz) as an act of treason, and resigned from the provisional government.

Gambetta was one of the most radical members of the National Assembly. To disseminate his republican beliefs, he founded La République Française, which became one of the most influential newspapers in France and strongly opposed attempts to restore the monarchy. His fiery speeches were celebrated, and his popularity and political strength never wavered. When Jules Grévy was elected President of France in 1879, Gambetta became president of the Chamber of Deputies, and in 1881 he became Premier of France. His ministry, however, lasted only two months because his policies, which aimed at the formation of a strong executive government, were unpopular with almost all political factions. Gambetta died near Paris on December 31, 1882. He is considered one of France's most notable patriots, orators, and statesmen.