Auguste Burdeau

Auguste-Laurent Burdeau (10 September 1851 – 12 December 1894) was a French politician.

Auguste-Laurent Burdeau
Auguste-Laurent Burdeau
Born	(1851-09-10)10 September 1851 Lyon, France
Died	12 December 1894(1894-12-12) (aged 43)
Nationality	French
Occupation	politician

He was the son of a laborer at Lyon. Forced from childhood to earn his own living, he was enabled to secure an education by bursarships at the Lycée at Lyon and at the Lycée Louis-le-Grand in Paris.^[1]

In 1870 he was at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris, but enlisted in the army, and was wounded and made prisoner in 1871 (during the Franco-Prussian War). In 1874 he became professor of philosophy, and translated several works of Herbert Spencer and of Schopenhauer into French.^[1] He was author of a moral instruction text book used in Saint-Sauveur-en-Puisaye.^[2]

His extraordinary aptitude for work secured for him the position of chef de cabinet under Paul Bert, the minister of education, in 1880s. In 1885 he was elected deputy for the département of the Rhône, and distinguished himself in financial questions. In 1887, he served as rapporteur for the education budget, and he was the general rapporteur for the budget in 1889.^[3] He was several times minister, and became minister of finance in the cabinet of Casimir-Perier (from 3 November 1893 to 22 May 1894). On the 5 July 1894 he was elected president of the chamber of deputies. He died on the 12 December 1894, said to be worn out with overwork.^[1] He considered hard work a fundamental ingredient of civilization.^[2]

French policy on Algeria

The budget report presented to the Chamber of Deputies on 4 December 1891 by Auguste Burdeau was one of the major events in French discussion of Algeria. He, during his two hours speech, provided a more general analysis of French policy in Algeria. He feared bringing colonial subjects into contact with imperial culture and refused to allow them full participation in that culture. Burdeau's examination of problems of the indigenous people into French nation shaped the French’s policy on Algeria.^[3]

References

1.   One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Burdeau, Auguste Laurent". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 4 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 809.
2. Tilburg, Patricia A. (1 July 2009). Colette's Republic: Work, Gender, and Popular Culture in France, 1870-1914. Oxford: Berghahn Books. p. 28. ISBN 978-1-845-45571-2. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
3. Lehning, James R. (1 July 2009). To be a Citizen: The Political Culture of the Early French Third Republic. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. p. 139. ISBN 978-0-801-43888-2. Retrieved 21 February 2022.