Félix Marie Louis Pierre Esquirou de Parieu (1815 - 1893) was a French statesman.

Born in Aurillac

Aurillac

Aurillac is a commune in the Auvergne region in south-central France, capital of the Cantal department.Aurillac's inhabitants are called Aurillacois, and are also Cantaliens or Cantalous in Occitan....

, Cantal

Cantal

Cantal is a department in south-central France. It is named after the Cantal mountain range, a group of extinct, eroded volcanic peaks, which covers much of the department. Residents are known as Cantaliens or Cantalous....

, he was notably Minister of Education and Public Worship

Minister of National Education (France)

The Ministry of National Education, Youth, and Sport , or simply "Minister of National Education," as the title has changed no small number of times in the course of the Fifth Republic) is the French government cabinet member charged with running France's public educational system and with the...

 from 1849 to 1851, and headed the French Council of State in 1870.

He is considered as a precursor of the European Monetary Union, as he dedicated most of his political life to promote the idea of a European single currency. He was one of the founders of the Latin Monetary Union

Latin Monetary Union

The Latin Monetary Union was a 19th century attempt to unify several European currencies, at a time when most circulating coins were still made of gold and silver...

. He died in 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...

.