Bernard Adolphe Granier de Cassagnac (August 12, 1806— January 31, 1880) was a French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 journalist and politician.

Biography

Born in Avéron-Bergelle

Avéron-Bergelle

Avéron-Bergelle is a commune in the Gers department in southwestern France.-Population:-References:*...

, département

Départements of France

The departments of France are French administrative divisions. The 101 departments form one of the three levels of local government, together with the 22 metropolitan and 5 overseas regions above them and more than 36 000 communes beneath them...

of Gers, he began his career as a Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

ian journalist in 1832, contributing defences of Romanticism

Romanticism

Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...

 and Conservatism

Conservatism

Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...

 to the Revue de Paris

Revue de Paris

Revue de Paris was a French literary magazine founded in 1829 by Louis Desiré Veron....

, the Journal des Débats

Journal des Débats

The Journal des débats was a French newspaper, published between 1789 and 1944 that changed title several times...

, and to La Presse. Then he founded a political journal, L'Epoque (1845-1848), and his violent polemic

Polemic

A polemic is a variety of arguments or controversies made against one opinion, doctrine, or person. Other variations of argument are debate and discussion...

s in support of François Guizot

François Guizot

François Pierre Guillaume Guizot was a French historian, orator, and statesman. Guizot was a dominant figure in French politics prior to the Revolution of 1848, a conservative liberal who opposed the attempt by King Charles X to usurp legislative power, and worked to sustain a constitutional...

 brought him notoriety and many few duel

Duel

A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two individuals, with matched weapons in accordance with agreed-upon rules.Duels in this form were chiefly practised in Early Modern Europe, with precedents in the medieval code of chivalry, and continued into the modern period especially among...

s.

In 1851, in the Constitutionnel, he declared himself openly an advocate of the French Empire

Second French Empire

The Second French Empire or French Empire was the Imperial Bonapartist regime of Napoleon III from 1852 to 1870, between the Second Republic and the Third Republic, in France.-Rule of Napoleon III:...

, and in 1852 was elected as official candidate by the départment of Gers to the Second Republic

French Second Republic

The French Second Republic was the republican government of France between the 1848 Revolution and the coup by Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte which initiated the Second Empire. It officially adopted the motto Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité...

's National Assembly

French National Assembly

The French National Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of France under the Fifth Republic. The upper house is the Senate ....

. As journalist and deputy he actively supported an absolutist policy, and also demanded the restoration of Roman Catholicism as state religion

State religion

A state religion is a religious body or creed officially endorsed by the state...

, opposed the laws in favor of the press, and was a member of the club of the rue de l'Arcade - the political allies of Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte

Napoleon III of France

Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte was the President of the French Second Republic and as Napoleon III, the ruler of the Second French Empire. He was the nephew and heir of Napoleon I, christened as Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte...

.

In March 1868 he accused the Liberal

Liberalism

Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...

 deputies of having received money from Wilhelm I of Prussia

Prussia

Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...

 for opposing Bonaparte, and, when called upon for proof, submitted only false or trivial documents.

After the Empire's defeat in the Franco-Prussian War

Franco-Prussian War

The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Prussia was aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and...

 and the proclamation of the Third Republic (September 4, 1870), Granier de Cassagnac fled to Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

, and returned to France for the elections of 1876, and was elected deputy. He continued to combat all the republican reforms, but without electoral success. He died on his castle Couloumé.

His son Paul Adolphe Marie Prosper Granier de Cassagnac

Paul Adolphe Marie Prosper Granier de Cassagnac

Paul Adolphe Marie Prosper Granier de Cassagnac was the son of Adolphe Granier de Cassagnac, and while still young associated with his father in both politics and journalism. In 1866 he became editor of the Conservative paper Le Pays, and figured in a long series of political duels...

followed in his footsteps as a belligerent journalist.