Charles Humbert was a French army captain, tax collector, Senator and newspaper proprietor.

Biography

Humbert was a self-made man. His first job was in a café, but he enlisted himself in the army and became a captain. He attracted the attention of General André who made him his aide-de-camp, and in 1900, when André became Minister for War, he received a post under him. He played an important part in the series of inquiries instigated by General André into the religious and political views of officers. After two years he resigned owing to the controversy caused by his opposition to Freemasonry

Freemasonry

Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...

 in the army, and became a tax collector. He entered journalism, becoming secretary to "Le Matin

Le Matin (France)

Le Matin was a French daily newspaper created in 1883 and discontinued in 1944.Le Matin was launched on the initiative of Chamberlain & Co, a group of American financiers, in 1883, on the model of the British daily The Morning News. The direction of the project was entrusted to the French...

". In 1906 he was elected deputy for the Meuse Département, then two years later a senator of the Third Republic

French Third Republic

The French Third Republic was the republican government of France from 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed due to the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, to 1940, when France was overrun by Nazi Germany during World War II, resulting in the German and Italian occupations of France...

, becoming vice-president of the senate army commission. Before World War I he wrote much on military subjects, and made speeches criticising the inadequacy of the defences of the French Army, and the insufficiency of officers and munitions. When the war begain in 1914 be became director of "Le Journal

Le Journal (Paris)

Le Journal was a Paris daily newspaper published from 1892 to 1944 in a small, four-page format.It was founded and edited by Fernand Arthur Pierre Xau until 1899...

". His slogan was "Des canons, des munitions!" He was awarded the Légion d'honneur

Légion d'honneur

The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...

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Bolo Pasha Trial

In the spring of 1918 Humbert was involved in a controversy involving money supplied to "Le Journal" and proposals by Bolo Pasha who had been executed in the war as a German agent. In a much-publicised case, Humbert was brought before a Court-martial but was acquitted.

Family

Humbert married an Englishwoman, Mabel Wells Annie Rooke, daughter of William Rooke and Fanny Drew. They had one son, Charles William Humbert, and a daughter, Agnès Humbert

Agnès Humbert

Agnès Humbert was an art historian, ethnographer and a member of the French Resistance during World War II.- Early life :...

, born in Dieppe in 1894. Humbert and his wife divorced in 1908, and it said he then 'married a rich woman'. Humbert died at his home in Paris on 1 November 1927, and is buried in Batignolles Cemetery

Batignolles Cemetery

The Batignolles Cemetery is a cemetery in Paris, located in the Épinettes district, in the northeastern part of the 17th arrondissement. Extending over nearly eleven hectares, slightly larger than the Montmartre Cemetery, Batignolles Cemetery contains approximately fifteen thousand graves, and it...

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Writings

• Sommes-nous défendus? ("Are we defended?") (1907)
• La flotte fantôme: ni bateaux, ni canons, ni obus ("The phantom fleet: no ships, no guns, no shells") (1909)

External links

Website of the French Senate: Charles Humbert