DeepDyve eBooks - A Political Romance

Foley, Susan K.; Sowerwine, Charles

Pages: 3 –7

[Léonie Léon and Léon Gambetta — we will refer to them by their family names, Léon and Gambetta — exchanged letters almost every day. They could neither marry nor live together, given Gambetta’s political aspirations and Léon’s past as a courtesan. As a result, their letters addressed not only...

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‘The unforgettable day of 27 April’

Foley, Susan K.; Sowerwine, Charles

Pages: 11 –26

[On 27 April 1872, the man on whom Léonie Léon had set her sights finally consented to meet her. As Gambetta later recalled, ‘we met, were smitten by each other, gave ourselves to each other’.2 After four years of assiduous effort to achieve her goal, Léon was surely seeking a long-term...

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‘I want you to devote yourself to the Republic’

Foley, Susan K.; Sowerwine, Charles

Pages: 29 –50

[On 27 April 1872, the man on whom Léonie Léon had set her sights finally consented to meet her. As Gambetta later recalled, ‘we met, were smitten by each other, gave ourselves to each other’.2 After four years of assiduous effort to achieve her goal, Léon was surely seeking a long-term...

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‘Thank you for being my strength, my hope’

Foley, Susan K.; Sowerwine, Charles

Pages: 53 –71

[Marshal MacMahon’s assumption of power brought to a head the monarchist challenge to the Republic. This political challenge was intertwined with personal challenges for Gambetta and Léon. The couple had declared their love, but whether a relationship between a courtesan and her protector could...

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‘I am smiling at your triumph, at our love’

Foley, Susan K.; Sowerwine, Charles

Pages: 73 –93

[The large republican majority in the first Chamber of Deputies was a two-edged sword. In theory, it promised the possibility of legislating a republican agenda. But with strength of numbers came ideological and political differences. Gambetta’s political skills and magic oratory continued to...

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‘We’ll go and laugh at the Palais-Royal’

Foley, Susan K.; Sowerwine, Charles

Pages: 97 –116

[Both Gambetta and Léon had come to the capital in their youth in pursuit of personal advancement. Paris was the city of opportunity, unrivalled by any provincial centre. Thanks to the massive programme of urban renewal commissioned by Emperor Napoleon III in 1852 and overseen by the Prefect,...

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‘We will proudly put our heads together in books’

Foley, Susan K.; Sowerwine, Charles

Pages: 119 –136

[Léon and Gambetta enjoyed sharing the delights of urban living and the pleasures of the outdoors. But their life together was also shaped by their interest in intellectual and cultural pursuits. They enjoyed visiting museums and galleries, together and separately. They had strong views on art,...

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This religion satisfies my soul’

Foley, Susan K.; Sowerwine, Charles

Pages: 139 –156

[Gambetta is famous for the declaration, ‘Clericalism! There is the enemy.’3 But his correspondence with Léon suggests that he was a moderate anticlerical by the standards of the day. While he had left his Catholicism comfortably behind and was determined to ensure the rights of a secular...

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‘What glory, to have created a new France’

Foley, Susan K.; Sowerwine, Charles

Pages: 159 –175

[The elections of October 1877, which gave the republicans a majority of 119 in the Chamber of Deputies, sealed the victory for which Gambetta and Léon had struggled since 1872. The Republic had triumphed and monarchism would never again pose a serious threat. Gambetta had been pivotal to this...

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‘Triumphant and full of regrets’

Foley, Susan K.; Sowerwine, Charles

Pages: 177 –199

[By persuading Gambetta to accept the Presidency of the Chamber of Deputies, President Grévy had shrewdly sidelined him. Despite the public profile of the position, it offered little scope for advancing a political programme. Gambetta’s frustration was intense as he watched a succession of...

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A Political Romance

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A Political Romance

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