| Victor Leydet | |
| Birth Date: | 3 July 1845 |
| Birth Place: | Aix-en-Provence, France |
| Death Place: | Paris, France |
| Resting Place: | Saint-Pierre Cemetery, Aix-en-Provence |
| Nationality: | French |
| Occupation: | Businessman Politician Novelist |
| Children: | Edmond Leydet Fernand Leydet Louis Leydet Lucien Marc Leydet Paul Gabriel Leydet Francia Leydet Sextia Leydet |
| Parents: | Joseph Vincent Leydet Marie Françoise Laurin |
Victor Leydet (1845–1908) was a French businessman, politician and novelist. He served as a member of the Senate of France from 1897 to 1908.
Victor Leydet was born on 9 July 1845 in Aix-en-Provence.[1] [2] His father, Joseph Vincent Leydet, was a factory worker.[1] [2] His mother was Marie Françoise Laurin.[2] He was educated at the Collège Mignet (then known as the Collège Bourbon) in Aix.[2]
He started his career as a shop assistant in shops in Aix.[1] Later, he became Director of one of the biggest olive oil factories in Provence.[1]
A staunch supporter of the Republic, he joined the Radical Left, a left-wing political party.[1] [2] [3] He was elected to the town council of Aix in 1870.[1] He also served as Deputy-Mayor of Aix from 1876 to 1882, when Salomon Bédarrides (1809-1886) was the Mayor.[1] He also joined the General Council of the Bouches-du-Rhône (representing Peyrolles), when he campaigned for match-making factories to be returned to the French homeland rather than in her colonies; they were returned to France in 1872, and a new match-making factory was built in Aix from 1892 to 1895 (now reconverted as the Bibliothèque Méjanes, a public library, since 1989).[2] He also worked as a judge in the Chamber of Commerce.[1]
He served as a French Senator from 1897 to his death in 1908.[1] He was opposed to the policies of Léon Gambetta (1838-1882) and Jules Ferry (1832-1892), and he voted against extending the Tonkin Campaign in Vietnam.[1] Additionally, he voted in favour of the separation of church and state.[1] He proposed a law to establish an income tax which would be progressive and proportional.[1] He supported a break-up of the match-making industry in France, a French state monopoly which lasted from 1872 to 1992 (initially established to finance the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871).[1] [2] In his second tenure, which started in 1903, he opposed the policies of Maurice Rouvier (1842–1911) Pierre Tirard (1827-1893) [1] He was also in favour of going after General Georges Ernest Boulanger (1837–1891), who attempted a coup d'état in 1889.[1] He took a look at regulating the use of the Durance, protecting wild birds, increasing the number of fields of olive trees and tobacco in Provence, and promoting the Étang de Berre.[2] Moreover, he was in favour of encouraging army recruitment, increasing railway tracks in France, and maintaining the University of Aix in Aix.[1] [2]
He wrote three novels set in Aix, published weekly in the newspaper Le National.[2]
He married Louise Ely.[2] They had five sons and two daughters:
His son Louis was friends with painter Paul Cézanne (1839-1906).[2] As a result, Victor Leydet attended Cézanne's funeral and said a few words about him.[2]
He died on 22 October 1908 in Paris.[1] His corpse was returned to Aix, and he was buried in the Saint-Pierre Cemetery in Aix.[2]