- Waldeck-Rousseau, Pierre
- (1846-1904)political figure The son of a moderate leftist deputy in the second republic, Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau was born in Nantes. He was elected to the Chamber of Deputies as a member of the Union républicaine (1879-89) and, named minister of the interior (November 1881-January 1882; February 1883-March 1885), he put through the law on professional associations that favored the development of the labor union movement (1884). Returning occasionally to his profession as an attorney, he defended gustave eiffel during the panama affair. As a senator (18941904), he was called to serve as prime minister (1899-1902) and, faced with the right-wing nationalist movement, formed a cabinet that would defend the republic and its principles (gaston gal-liffet, Alexandre millerand) and that reversed the sentence of captain alfred dreyfus. Waldeck-Rousseau put through the law on associations (1901), aimed particularly at religious congregations, which would bring about the separation of church and state in France. in 1900, responding to the Boxer Rebellion, he sent a French military expedition to China.
France. A reference guide from Renaissance to the Present . 1884.