Ernest Picard, a lawyer born in 1821, was Minister of Finance in the Government of National Defence formed after Sedan, in September 1870: paying for a war in a city where nothing came in and nothing went out. Thiers then gave him the Interior, from 19 February to 31 May 1871. The Communards would turn on that government, and on the peace it had signed. He died in 1877.
The story
After the defeat at Sedan, in September 1870, a Government of National Defence was formed to carry on the war against Prussia. Ernest Picard held Finance there through the five months of blockade, famine and shelling that the siege of Paris lasted: paying for a war in a city where nothing came in or went out any more. It is this government, and the armistice it signed, that the Communards would turn against.
Born in 1821, a lawyer like most moderate republicans of his generation, he had made his career in the parliamentary opposition of the Second Empire. Thiers gave him the Interior in February 1871: he left it on 31 May, the Commune crushed. He died in 1877, at fifty-five.
The grave in Division 8 brings together two political careers: his own and that of his brother Arthur Eugène Picard, deputy for the Basses-Alpes, who died in 1898.
On site, do not miss
A grave shared with his brother Arthur Eugène Picard (1825-1898), deputy for the Basses-Alpes: two political careers under one stone.
Visitors' questions
Where is Ernest Picard's grave?
In Division 8 of Père-Lachaise, on the first row of the chemin Chénier. He lies with his brother Arthur Eugène Picard (1825-1898), deputy for the Basses-Alpes.
Julie FeyghineWhat was the Government of National Defence?
The government formed after the defeat at Sedan, in September 1870, to carry on the war against Prussia. Picard was its Minister of Finance, through the five months of the siege of Paris, from September 1870 to January 1871.
Charles FloquetWas he in office during the Commune?
He was, but in another post: Minister of the Interior under Thiers from 19 February 1871, he resigned on 31 May, the Commune crushed. It was that government, and its signing of the armistice, that the Communards held against him.
Charles DelescluzeWhat is known about him?
A barrister and a politician, born in 1821, dead in 1877 at fifty-five: Minister of Finance in the Government of National Defence, then Thiers's Minister of the Interior in 1871.
Ferdinand FloconAudio guide to Père Lachaise: the best unusual guided tour!
Discover the secrets of the most astonishing tombs
the audio guidefrom€6.99