A banker turned President of the Council, Casimir Périer formed his ministry in March 1831 and took the Interior at the same time. The son of one of the founders of the Banque de France, he had made his fortune in shipping and the Anzin mines before entering the Chamber. Stendhal, who had known him young, called him then the handsomest man in Paris. He died in 1832.
The story
Casimir Périer was born on 11 October 1777 at Grenoble, fifth child of Claude Perier, a Dauphiné banker and co-founder of the Bank of France. Stendhal, who knew him young, described him as “perhaps the handsomest young man in Paris at that time”, dark, wild, “his fine eyes had madness in them”.
Conscripted into the Army of Italy in 1798, he distinguished himself at San Giuliano near Mantua, then left the army on his father's death and founded a banking house with his brother Scipion — shipping ventures, the Anzin mines.
Elected deputy for the Seine in 1817, he published two much-noticed pamphlets on finance against a government loan and became one of the voices of the liberal opposition. He signed the address of the 221.
On 13 March 1831 he formed his ministry: as president of the Council and minister of the interior he summed up his policy in one sentence — “at home, order without any sacrifice of liberty; abroad, peace at no cost to honour”. This is the juste milieu.
On 6 April 1832 he went with the Duc d'Orléans to the Hôtel-Dieu to visit cholera patients, having himself ordered the sanitary controls tightened. It killed him on 16 May 1832. His grandson Jean Casimir-Perier would be President of the Republic in 1894.
The grave
A mausoleum raised in 1837 by public subscription, on a plot granted by the City of Paris, for 58,650 francs. The architect is Achille Leclère, the sculptor Jean-Pierre Cortot — neither signed it, but the inscription names them. A standing statue, larger than life, dominates the whole; three figures surround it, Eloquence at the front, Justice on the right, Firmness on the left. The engraved text is a eulogy: “seven times elected deputy, president of the council of ministers under the reign of Louis-Philippe I, he defended with eloquence and courage order and liberty at home, peace and national dignity abroad. Public gratitude erected this monument.” The avenue leading to the Grand Rond bears his name.
On site, do not miss
The three allegories on the sides — Eloquence, Justice, Firmness — and the standing statue, larger than life.
Visitors' questions
Where is Casimir Périer's grave?
In Division 13, at the Grand Rond crossroads, at the end of the avenue that bears his name. The mausoleum, with its larger-than-life full-length statue, is one of the most monumental in Père-Lachaise.
Alain BashungWho built his mausoleum?
The architect Achille Leclère and the sculptor Jean-Pierre Cortot, in 1837, funded by public subscription on a plot granted by the City of Paris. The monument cost 58,650 francs and has since been restored.
François-Adrien BoieldieuHow did he die?
Of cholera, on 16 May 1832. He had accompanied the Duke of Orléans to the Hôtel-Dieu on 6 April to visit victims of the epidemic — after having himself ordered tighter sanitary controls.
Baron HaussmannWhat do the three statues represent?
Eloquence on the front, Justice on the right side, Steadfastness on the left — the three virtues the public subscription wished to remember him by. The inscription praises “l'ordre et la liberté dans l'intérieur, la paix et la dignité nationale à l'extérieur” — order and liberty at home, peace and national dignity abroad.
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