French President, born at Mont-sous-Vaudrey, Jura; became prominent at the Paris bar, and after the '48 Revolution entered the Constituent Assembly, of which he became Vice-President; his opposition to Louis Napoleon, and disapproval of his coup d'état, obliged him to retire; but in 1869 he again entered the political arena, and was four times chosen President of the National Assembly; in 1879 he was elected President of the Republic for seven years, and in 1886 was confirmed in his position for a similar period, but ministerial difficulties induced him to resign two years later (1807-1891).