Arthur Dessoye

Arthur Charles Dessoye (23 August 1854 in Auberive, Haute-Marne – 30 April 1927 in Breuvannes-en-Bassigny, Haute-Marne) was a French journalist, writer, industrialist, and politician.

Arthur Dessoye
Arthur Charles Dessoye, Deputy and Minister (1914).
French Deputy
In office 1 June 1906 – 7 December 1919
Preceded by	Charles Bourlon de Rouvre
Succeeded by	Constituency abolished
Parliamentary group	Radical Left
Constituency	Haute-Marne
General Councillor of Haute-Marne
In office 1904–1919
Preceded by	Alfred Lamarche
Succeeded by	Emile Telliez
Constituency	Canton of Bourmont
Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts
In office 9 June 1914 – 13 June 1914
Preceded by	René Viviani
Succeeded by	Jean-Victor Augagneur
Personal details
Born	Arthur Charles Sébastien Dessoye 23 August 1854 Auberive
Died	30 April 1927 Breuvannes-en-Bassigny
Nationality	French
Political party	Radical Socialist
Profession	Journalist

Biography

Journalism career

Born to a tax collector father, originally from Breuvannes-en-Bassigny, where his family owned a file manufacturing business established in 1827,^[1] Arthur Dessoye was one of the founders and editor-in-chief of La Dépêche de Brest et de l'Ouest from 19 November 1886 to 12 April 1897.

• Editor of L'Électeur libre de Chaumont until 1884;
• Editor-in-chief of L'Union Républicaine du Finistère, a tri-weekly four-page newspaper, from 1 April 1884^[2] until 18 November 1886;
• Editor-in-chief of La Dépêche de Brest et de l'Ouest from its creation in 1886 until 1897, succeeding L'Union Républicaine du Finistère.

He married Marie Eugènie Renard in Breuvannes-en-Bassigny on 2 August 1884.^[3] One of his witnesses was his friend Jean Macé.^[1]

Political career

• Elected general councillor of the Canton of Bourmont from 1904 to 1919, also serving as mayor of Breuvannes^[4]
• Elected deputy for Haute-Marne from 1906 to 1919;
• President of the Ligue de l'enseignement from 1906 to 1919;
• Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts from 9 June to 13 June 1914 in the fourth Government of Alexandre Ribot;
• Advocate of electoral reform, he sponsored the law on list voting, enacted on 12 July 1919.^[5]

Honours

• Knight of the Legion of Honour on 26 June 1896.^[6]