Jules Désiré Colombe was a french blacksmith worker, known as leader of the labour exchange's creation in Nantes in 1892 and part of Limoges congress in 1895. A street and a cultural building hold his name in Nantes.

Jules Désiré Colombe
Portrait on his tombstone
Born(1859-05-16)16 May 1859
Bléville (Le Havre), France
Died12 December 1902(1902-12-12) (aged 43)
Nantes, France
Nationalityfrench
Political partyFrench Workers' Party

Biography

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Early life

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Jules Désiré Colombe was born in Bléville that is today part of Le Havre city, on 16th may 1859.

He established later in Nantes, as a blacksmith worker. [1]

Member of Nantes municipal council

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He sat on the Nantes Municipal Council from 1888 to 1892. First a member of the French Workers' Party and close to Charles Brunelière [fr], one of the founders of Nantes socialism, he is known to be a unity supporter. [1]

Leader in the creation of the labour exchange (Bourse du travail) in Nantes

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He played a key role in the founding of the Nantes Bourse du Travail, for which he was the secretariat from its creation in 1892. [1] This happens in historical context of federation of labour exchanges creation. [2] On his proposal, three places were reserved for women on the General Council (Conseil général) in charge to vote the final bureau, and one place on the Executive Commission (Commission exécutive).[1]

Secretary of national congress of French trade unions in 1894

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In September 1894, a national congress standed at Nantes : it was attended by 21 Bourses (776 trade unions), 30 federations (682 trade unions), and 204 trade unions which sent their own delegates. [3] He was part of the opposants to the political and union line of his party by voting for the organization of a general strike.[4]

Member of Limoges Congress which created General Confederation of Labour

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The following year, in Limoges, a congress held after the union of workers' organizations achieved in Nantes. He was one of its national secretaries. [1] Others former members of French Workers' Party[5] were also present in Limoges, for instance : Édouard Treich, secretary of the Federation of Workers' Unions of Limoges (Fédération des syndicats ouvriers de Limoges), Jean-Baptiste Calvignac [fr], miners in Carmaux mining company.[6] The General Confederation of Labour (CGT) was founded in 1895, at the Congress of Limoges. [3]

Later life

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In 1895, he left the Secretariat of the Nantes Bourse du travail and set up a small blacksmith's workshop with two partners.[1]

Death and legacy

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He died in December 1902 at the age of 42. [1]

He is buried in the Cemetery Miséricorde in Nantes.

His name was given to the street in which the second premises of the Nantes Bourse du travail were located. [1]

Footnotes

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Lehébel 2012.
  2. ^ "Federation of Labour Exchanges - French trade union" [Fédération des Bourses du Travail]. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
  3. ^ a b Netlau, Max (1932). "Fernand Pelloutier and syndicalism - Max Nettlau". Translated from the Spanish edition of Fernand Pelloutier's History of the Bourses du Travail (Historia de las Bolsas del Trabajo, Zero-Zyx, Madrid, 1978).
  4. ^ cf Fédération nationale des syndicats [fr] [Le congrès de Nantes (1894): évènement précipitant la chute de la Fédération]
  5. ^ Also named ''guedists'' in reference to the founder Jules Guesde
  6. ^ Beauvisage, Jérôme (November 2018). "Le congrès de Limoges et l'unité ouvrière" [The Limoges Congress and workers' Unity] (PDF). Les cahiers de l'institut CGT d'histoire sociale (folder) (in French): 8.

See also

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Sources

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Further reading

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