Jean Jaures Biography - French Socialist Leader Life Story (Short)

Jean Jaures; (1859-1914), French socialist leader. He was born at Castres on Sept. 3, 1859, into a poor family. He showed great scholastic ability and gained first place in the competitive examination to enter the École Normale Supérieure in Paris in 1878. By the time he started teaching philosophy at the University of Toulouse in 1883, he had already been attracted to politics. His oratorical skill enabled him to make his mark quickly, and he became a deputy in 1885. His support of the striking miners of Carmaux in 1892 and his support of Alfred Dreyfus, an officer convicted of high treason in a case fraught with violence, conspiracy, and anti-Semitism, were among his best-known activities.

Jaurès' socialism was distinguished for its humanitarianism and its insistence on evolution rather than revolution. He often found himself in dispute with his more orthodox Marxist colleagues, such as Jules Guesde, but his oratory and his warm personality made him the dominant force of the French left. In 1903 he became vice president of the Chamber of Deputies, and in 1904 he founded and directed the newspaper L'Humanité.

Jaurès concerned himself particularly with the organization of the army and with international relations. Throughout the months of crisis that led to the outbreak of World War I he persisted in urging a peaceful solution. He was assassinated in a Paris café on July 31, 1914, by a young nationalist.

#JeanJaures
#biography
#Socialist

свернуть