Alfred Jean François Mézières (19 November 1826, in Réhon – 10 October 1915, in Réhon) was a French journalist, politician and historian of literature.[1]
Alfred Mézières was educated at Metz College and the École Normale Supérieure. He became a teacher at the French School of Athens, and later in Toulouse. He taught foreign literature at the University of Nancy in 1854, and was appointed professor of foreign literature at the Sorbonne in 1861.
In 1864, he co-founded the newspaper Le Temps. He served as an army officer in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870. He published studies on Shakespeare, Petrarch, Dante and Goethe and was elected to the Academie Francaise on January 29, 1874.
In 1874, he entered politics representing Longwy on the General Council of Meurthe-et-Moselle, serving as President of the Council twice, 1889 - 1892 and 1898 - 1906. He was elected to the Assemblee Nationale as the deputy of Meurthe-et-Moselle in 1881 and served until 1898. In 1900, he was elected senator for Meurthe-et-Moselle and in 1906, he became vice president of the Senate army commission.
In September 1914, the German army occupied Meziere’s house in Rehon and held him hostage. On October 3, 1915, he was finally allowed to leave in exchange for a German prisoner, but he died on October 10, 1915.
The rue Alfred Mezieres and four nearby schools in Nancy are named after him, as is the College Alfred Mezieres in Jarny.