Désiré Ferry

Who was Désiré Ferry?

Désiré Ferry was a French politician of the Third Republic.

Désiré Ferry was born in Metz. He studied law at the University of Nancy and worked as a writer and publisher. During the First World War he served with the French Army. He was three times wounded, promoted to captain, received the Croix de guerre, and was made a member of Légion d'honneur. This led to his being elected as prime minister of marines.

After the war, Ferry was appointed by Georges Clemenceau to work on the reintegration of the provinces of Alsace-Lorraine which had been recovered from the German Empire. In the 1919 elections, he stood as the junior candidate for the Chamber of Deputies on a list headed by future president Albert Lebrun. The list was elected in its entirity in the overwhelming victory for the Bloc national. Ferry was reelected continuously until 1936, when he lost his seat. He was generally associated with the Fédération républicaine.

Ferry served as a very successful Minister of Marine in the short-lived government of Frédéric François-Marsal. In 1930, he served as Minister of Health in the second government of André Tardieu. In this job, he did what he could to ameliorate the unhealthy conditions in which French soldiers lived in.