Mayor of Paris explained

Post:Mayor
Body:Paris
Native Name:Maire de Paris
Insignia:File:Grandes Armes de Paris.svg
Insigniasize:100px
Insigniacaption:Coat of arms of Paris
Incumbent:Anne Hidalgo
Incumbentsince:5 April 2014
Appointer:Popular election
(approved by the Council of Paris)
Termlength:6 years, renewable once
Formation:15 July 1789
20 March 1977
Inaugural:Jean Sylvain Bailly
Salary:8,650 (monthly)

The mayor of Paris (French: Maire de Paris) is the chief executive of Paris, the capital and largest city in France. The officeholder is responsible for the administration and management of the city, submits proposals and recommendations to the Council of Paris, is active in the enforcement of the city's ordinances, submits the city's annual budget and appoints city officers, department commissioners or directors, as well as members of city boards and commissions. During meetings of the Council of Paris, the mayor serves as the presiding officer, as it is the case in any other commune in France. Since Paris doubles as a department as well, the mayor also has the rank of a departmental council president.

History

When the French Revolution began after the storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789, the city insurgents murdered the last Provost of Paris (Provost of the Merchants), Jacques de Flesselles. Because the Provost's office was abolished as one of the first moves with the dissolution of the Ancien Régime, the insurgents established a revolutionary government called the "Commune of Paris", initially led by Jean Sylvain Bailly, the first titled "Mayor of Paris". The mayor's office was very important during the critical phases of the Revolution, and during Robespierre's Reign of Terror (1793 - 1794) it was decisive in the discovery and execution of all suspected counter-revolutionaries.In July 1794, after the 9th Thermidor, the coup d'état that deposed and executed Robespierre and his cronies, the office of Mayor was abolished since it was perceived to be too powerful.

After the February Revolution of 1848, the July Monarchy ended in favor of a new Republic, that restored the mayor's office. This renewal was however short, as the June Days uprising of the same year ended the possibility of creating a strong mayorship. The Executive Commission—charged to provisionally rule the country—preferred to transfer the mayor's powers to the Seine Prefect, appointed by Ministry of the Interior.

In 1870, once again, the office of Mayor of Paris was re-established and again did not survive long. The occasion for the re-creation was the fall of the Second Empire after the defeat in the Franco-Prussian War. The provisional Government of National Defense of Louis-Jules Trochu believed that a strong leadership in Paris would prevent sedition during the Prussian siege. After the definitive conquest of Paris by Prussians, popular discontent erupted in a new insurrectionary Commune which held socialist beliefs. Also, in case the Commune was finally suppressed, the new national government preferred to divide Paris into several distinct mayorships (one for each arrondissement) to prevent the city's total loss in the event of further revolts.

Thus, for all but 14 months from 1794 to 1977, Paris was the only commune of France without a mayor, and had less autonomy than even the smallest village. For most of the time from 1800 to 1977 (except briefly in 1848 and 1870–71), it was controlled directly by the departmental prefect (the prefect of the Seine before 1968 and prefect of Paris after 1968). In 1975 Parliament passed a bill re-establishing an elected mayor for Paris, beginning in 1977. The bill was signed by President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing on 31 December 1975. In March 1977, after the first formal municipal election, former Prime Minister Jacques Chirac was chosen as Mayor of Paris, a position he held until 1995, when was elected President of France.

List of officeholders

NotesDied in office

MayorTerm in office
Elections
Previous officePartyDeputy
1Jean Sylvain Bailly
1736 - 1793
(Aged 57)
15 July 178918 November 1791President of the
National Assembly

(1789)
PatrioticOffice did not exist
scope=row style="text-align:center" colspan=2 class=nowrap 1789
2Jérôme Pétion de Villeneuve
1756 - 1794
(Aged 38)
18 November 17911 December 1792Representative
to Estates General

for the Third Estate
(1789)
Girondin
scope=row style="text-align:center" colspan=2 class=nowrap 1791
3Henri Lefèvre d'Ormesson
1751 - 1808
(Aged 56)
21 November 17928 December 1792Judge in the
6th arrondissement
(1790 - 1792)
Girondin
scope=row style="text-align:center" colspan=2 class=nowrap 1792 (November)
4Nicolas Chambon
1748 - 1826
(Aged 78)
8 December 179214 February 1793Paris Financial Administrator
(1790 - 1791)
Girondin
scope=row style="text-align:center" colspan=2 class=nowrap 1792 (December)
5Jean-Nicolas Pache
1746 - 1823
(Aged 77)
14 February 179310 May 1794Minister of War
(1792 - 1793)
Jacobin
scope=row style="text-align:center" colspan=2 class=nowrap 1793
6Jean-Baptiste Fleuriot-Lescot
1761 - 1794
(Aged 33)
10 May 179427 July 1794Public Prosecutor of the
Revolutionary Tribunal
(1793 - 1794)
Jacobin
scope=row style="text-align:center" colspan=2 class=nowrap 1794
Office abolished (1794 - 1848)
7Louis Antoine Pagès
1803 - 1878
(Aged 75)
24 February 18489 March 1848MP for Eure
(1846 - 1848)
Constitutionalist
Republican
Office did not exist
scope=row style="text-align:center" colspan=2 class=nowrap N/A
8Armand Marrast
1801 - 1852
(Aged 50)
9 March 184819 July 1848MP for Haute-Garonne
(1848 - 1849)
Constitutionalist
Republican
scope=row style="text-align:center" colspan=2 class=nowrap N/A
Office abolished (1848 - 1870)
9Étienne Arago
1802 - 1892
(Aged 90)
4 September 187015 November 1870MP for Pyrénées-Orientales
(1848 - 1851)
Radical RepublicanOffice did not exist
scope=row style="text-align:center" colspan=2 class=nowrap N/A
10Jules Ferry
1832 - 1893
(Aged 60)
15 November 187018 March 1871MP for Seine
(1869 - 1870)
Moderate Republican
scope=row style="text-align:center" colspan=2 class=nowrap N/A
Office abolished (1871 - 1977)
11Jacques Chirac
1932 - 2019
(Aged 86)
20 March 197713 March 1983Prime Minister of France
(1974 - 1976)
Rally for the Republic
scope=row style="text-align:center" colspan=2 class=nowrap 1977
13 March 198319 March 1989
scope=row style="text-align:center" colspan=2 class=nowrap 1983
19 March 198916 May 1995
scope=row style="text-align:center" colspan=2 class=nowrap 1989
12Jean Tiberi
Born 1935
22 May 199525 March 2001MP for Paris
(1976 - 2012)
Rally for the RepublicJacques Dominati
scope=row style="text-align:center" colspan=2 class=nowrap 1995
13Bertrand Delanoë
Born 1950
25 March 200116 March 2008Senator for Paris
(1995 - 2001)
Socialist PartyAnne Hidalgo
scope=row style="text-align:center" colspan=2 class=nowrap 2001
16 March 20085 April 2014
scope=row style="text-align:center" colspan=2 class=nowrap 2008
14Anne Hidalgo
Born 1959
5 April 20143 July 2020Deputy Mayor of Paris
(2001 - 2014)
Socialist PartyBruno Julliard
scope=row style="text-align:center" colspan=2 class=nowrap 2014
3 July 2020IncumbentEmmanuel Grégoire
scope=row style="text-align:center" colspan=2 class=nowrap 2020

See also

References