List of presidents of the Senate of France
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title: "List of presidents of the Senate of France" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["presidents-of-the-senate-(france)", "lists-of-chairs-of-upper-houses", "france-politics-related-lists"] description: "none" topic_path: "politics" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_the_Senate_of_France" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary none ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox official post"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| post | President |
| body | the French Senate |
| native_name | fr |
| insignia | French Senate Logo.svg |
| insigniacaption | Logo of the French Senate |
| image | Portrait G. Larcher 2014 (cropped).jpg |
| incumbent | Gérard Larcher |
| incumbentsince | 1 October 2014 |
| department | Senate of France |
| type | Presiding officer |
| member_of | French Parliament |
| residence | Petit Luxembourg |
| termlength | 3 years, |
| termlength_qualified | renewable |
| formation | 28 October 1795 |
| first | Claude-Antoine Rudel |
| succession | 1st |
| website | |
| :: |
| post = President | body = the French Senate | native_name = fr | insignia = French Senate Logo.svg | insigniasize = | insigniacaption = Logo of the French Senate | insigniaalt = | flag = | flagsize = | flagalt = | flagborder = | flagcaption = | image = Portrait G. Larcher 2014 (cropped).jpg | imagesize = | alt = | imagecaption = | incumbent = Gérard Larcher | acting = | incumbentsince = 1 October 2014 | department = Senate of France | style = | type = Presiding officer | status = | abbreviation = | member_of = French Parliament | reports_to = | residence = Petit Luxembourg | seat = | nominator = | appointer = | appointer_qualified = | termlength = 3 years, | termlength_qualified = renewable | constituting_instrument = | precursor = | formation = 28 October 1795 | first = Claude-Antoine Rudel | last = | abolished = | superseded_by = | succession = 1st | unofficial_names = | deputy = | salary = | website = | footnotes =
This article lists the presidents of the Senate of France (; official translation: Speaker of the Senate) and assimilated chambers.
The Senate is the upper house of the French Parliament. It is presided over by a president. Although there had been Senates in both the First and Second Empires, these had not technically been legislative bodies, but rather advisory bodies on the model of the Roman Senate. France's first experience with an upper house was under the Directory from 1795 to 1799, when the Council of Ancients was the upper chamber. With the Restoration in 1814, a new Chamber of Peers was created, on the model of the British House of Lords. At first it contained hereditary peers, but following the July Revolution of 1830, it became a body to which one was appointed for life. The Second Republic returned to a unicameral system after 1848, but soon after the establishment of the Second Empire in 1852, a Senate was established as the upper chamber. In the Fourth Republic, the Senate was renamed the Council of the Republic, but its function was largely the same. With the new constitution of the Fifth Republic in 1959, the older name of Senate was restored.
Acting President of the French Republic
The president of the Senate, in addition to his duties as presiding officer of the upper house of parliament, is also, according to the Constitution of the Fifth Republic, first in line of succession in case of death, resignation, or removal by impeachment of the president, thus becoming Acting President of the Republic until a new election can be held. This has already occurred twice. Alain Poher, the president of the French Senate, served as Acting President of France from 28 April until 20 June 1969 (between the resignation of President Charles de Gaulle and the installation of his elected successor President Georges Pompidou) and again from 3 April until 27 May 1974 (between the death of President Georges Pompidou and the installation of his elected successor President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing).
List of officeholders
Under the [[French Directory|Directory]] (1795–1799)
Presidents of the Council of Ancients:
::data[format=table]
| Portrait | Name | Took office | Left office |
|---|---|---|---|
| [[File:BONNEFOY(1897) p4.761 RUDEL du MIRAL (Claude-Antoine).jpg | 75px]] | Claude-Antoine Rudel | 28 October 1795 |
| [[File:Louis-Marie de La Révellière-Lépeaux par Gérard.jpg | 75px]] | Louis Marie de La Révellière-Lépeaux | 28 October 1795 |
| [[File:Baudin des Ardennes-portrait.jpg | 75px]] | Pierre-Charles-Louis Baudin | 2 November 1795 |
| [[File:AduC 105 Tronchet (F.D., 1726-1806).JPG | 75px]] | François Denis Tronchet | 23 November 1795 |
| [[File:Théodore Vernier.jpg | 75px]] | Théodore Vernier | 22 December 1795 |
| [[File:Conseil des anciens sans txt.svg | 75px]] | Guillaume François Charles Goupil de Préfelne | 22 January 1796 |
| [[File:Robert Lefèvre, "Claude Ambroise Régnier, Duc de Massa" (1808).jpg | 75px]] | Claude Ambroise Régnier | 20 February 1796 |
| [[File:Jacques Antoine Creuzé-Latouche (1749-1800).png | 75px]] | Jacques Antoine Creuzé-Latouche | 21 March 1796 |
| [[File:Jean Barthélémy Le Couteulx de Canteleu.png | 75px]] | Jean-Barthélémy Le Couteulx de Canteleu | 20 April 1796 |
| [[File:Charles-François Lebrun, duc de Plaisance.png | 75px]] | Charles-François Lebrun | 20 May 1796 |
| [[File:Jean-Étienne-Marie Portalis by Pierre Gautherot.jpg | 75px]] | Jean-Étienne-Marie Portalis | 19 June 1796 |
| [[File:Jean Dussaulx.jpg | 75px]] | Jean Dussaulx | 19 July 1796 |
| [[File:Eymar - Honoré Muraire, comte de l'Empire, né le 5 novembre 1750 à Draguignan.jpg | 75px]] | Honoré Muraire | 18 August 1796 |
| [[File:Pierre Roger Ducos par Edme Quenedey.jpg | 75px]] | Roger Ducos | 23 September 1796 |
| [[File:Jean-Girard Lacuée.png | 75px]] | Jean-Gérard Lacuée, count of Cessac | 22 October 1796 |
| [[File:Conseil des anciens sans txt.svg | 75px]] | Jean-Jacques Bréard | 21 November 1796 |
| Boniface Paradis | 21 December 1796 | 20 January 1797 | |
| Sébastien Ligeret de Beauvais | 20 January 1797 | 19 February 1797 | |
| Joseph Clément Poullain de Grandprey | 19 February 1797 | 21 March 1797 | |
| Jean-François-Bertrand Delmas | 21 March 1797 | 20 April 1797 | |
| Edme-Bonaventure Courtois | 20 April 1797 | 20 May 1797 | |
| [[File:Barbe de Marbois.jpg | 75px]] | François Barbé-Marbois | 20 May 1797 |
| [[File:Conseil des anciens sans txt.svg | 75px]] | Louis Bernard de Saint-Affrique | 19 June 1797 |
| [[File:Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours (1739-1817).jpg | 75px]] | Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours | 19 July 1797 |
| [[File:Suzanne Caron.- Portrait d'André-Daniel Laffon de Ladebat, 1763.png | 75px]] | André-Daniel Laffon de Ladebat | 18 August 1797 |
| [[File:General Jean-Antoine Marbot (1754–1800) cropped.png | 75px]] | Jean-Antoine Marbot | 6 September 1797 |
| [[File:Ansiaux - Emmanuel Crétet, comte de Champmol (1747-1809).jpg | 75px]] | Emmanuel Crétet | 23 September 1797 |
| [[File:Jean-Pierre Lacombe-Saint-Michel.jpg | 75px]] | Jean-Pierre Lacombe-Saint-Michel | 22 October 1797 |
| [[File:Conseil des anciens sans txt.svg | 75px]] | Jean François Philibert Rossée | 21 November 1797 |
| Jean-Baptiste Marragon | 21 December 1797 | 20 January 1798 | |
| [[File:Jean Rousseau 2.png | 75px]] | Jean Rousseau | 20 January 1798 |
| [[File:Conseil des anciens sans txt.svg | 75px]] | Pardoux Bordas | 19 February 1798 |
| Étienne Mollevaut | 21 March 1798 | 20 April 1798 | |
| Jacques Poisson de Coudreville | 20 April 1798 | 20 May 1798 | |
| [[File:Robert Lefèvre, "Claude Ambroise Régnier, Duc de Massa" (1808).jpg | 75px]] | Claude Ambroise Régnier | 20 May 1798 |
| [[File:General Jean-Antoine Marbot (1754–1800) cropped.png | 75px]] | Jean-Antoine Marbot | 19 June 1798 |
| [[File:Conseil des anciens sans txt.svg | 75px]] | Étienne Maynaud de Bizefranc de Laveaux | 19 July 1798 |
| Pierre Antoine Laloy | 18 August 1798 | 23 September 1798 | |
| Benoît Michel Decomberousse | 23 September 1798 | 22 October 1798 | |
| [[File:Allais - Emmanuel Pérès de Lagesse.jpg | 75px]] | Emmanuel Pérès de Lagesse | 22 October 1798 |
| [[File:Conseil des anciens sans txt.svg | 75px]] | Jean-Augustin Moreau de Vormes | 21 November 1798 |
| Jean-Baptiste Perrin des Vosges | 21 December 1798 | 20 January 1799 | |
| [[File:Dominique Joseph Garat.JPG | 75px]] | Dominique Joseph Garat | 20 January 1799 |
| [[File:Conseil des anciens sans txt.svg | 75px]] | Jean-Aimé Delacoste | 19 February 1799 |
| Mathieu Depère | 21 March 1799 | 20 April 1799 | |
| [[File:Claude-Pierre Dellay d'Agier (1750-1827).jpg | 75px]] | Claude-Pierre de Delay d'Agier | 20 April 1799 |
| [[File:Le Vachez Collection - Claude-Christophe Gourdan (1744-1804).jpg | 75px]] | Charles Claude Christophe Gourdan | 20 May 1799 |
| [[File:Baudin des Ardennes-portrait.jpg | 75px]] | Pierre-Charles-Louis Baudin | 19 June 1799 |
| [[File:Conseil des anciens sans txt.svg | 75px]] | Louis Dubois du Bais | 19 July 1799 |
| [[File:Buste Augustin Cornet.JPG | 75px]] | Mathieu-Augustin Cornet | 18 August 1799 |
| [[File:Conseil des anciens sans txt.svg | 75px]] | Joseph Cornudet des Chaumettes | 24 September 1799 |
| [[File:Louis-Nicolas Lemercier (1755-1849).jpg | 75px]] | Louis-Nicolas Lemercier | 23 October 1799 |
| :: |
Under the [[French Consulate|Consulate]] (1799–1804)
Presidents of the Sénat conservateur:
::data[format=table]
| Portrait | Name | Took office | Left office |
|---|---|---|---|
| [[File:Jacques-Louis David - Portrait of Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès - WGA06098.jpg | 75px]] | Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès | 27 December 1799 |
| [[File:Francois Barthelemy.gif | 75px]] | François Barthélemy | 13 February 1800 |
| [[File:AduC 105 Tronchet (F.D., 1726-1806).JPG | 75px]] | François Denis Tronchet | 27 February 1801 |
| [[File:François Christophe Kellermann 2.png | 75px]] | François Christophe Kellermann | 2 August 1801 |
| [[File:Louis-Nicolas Lemercier (1755-1849).jpg | 75px]] | Louis-Nicolas Lemercier | 18 January 1802 |
| :: |
Under the [[First French Empire|First Empire]] (1804–1814)
Presidents of the Sénat conservateur:
::data[format=table]
| Portrait | Name | Took office | Left office |
|---|---|---|---|
| [[File:Neufchateau, François de.jpg | 75px]] | François de Neufchâteau | 19 May 1804 |
| [[File:Gaspard monge litho delpech.jpg | 75px]] | Gaspard Monge | 19 May 1806 |
| [[File:B G de Lacépède.jpg | 75px]] | Bernard Germain de Lacépède | 1 July 1807 |
| [[File:Médaille en vermeil Sénat conservateur (Constitution de l'an VIII) sans txt.svg | 75px]] | Jean-Denis-René de Saint-Vallier | 1 July 1808 |
| Germain Garnier | 1 July 1809 | 1 July 1811 | |
| [[File:B G de Lacépède.jpg | 75px]] | Bernard Germain de Lacépède | 1 July 1811 |
| [[File:Francois Barthelemy.gif | 75px]] | François Barthélemy | 1 July 1813 |
| :: |
Under the [[Bourbon Restoration in France|Bourbon Restoration]] (1814–1830)
Presidents of the Chamber of Peers:
::data[format=table]
| Portrait | Name | Took office | Left office |
|---|---|---|---|
| [[File:Dambray.jpg | 75px]] | Charles-Henri, chevalier Dambray | 4 June 1814 |
| [[File:Maurin - Cambaceres.png | 75px]] | Jean Jacques Régis de Cambacérès | 2 June 1815 |
| [[File:Dambray.jpg | 75px]] | Charles-Henri, chevalier Dambray | 12 October 1815 |
| [[File:Hippolyte Delaroche - Marquis de Pastoret - Google Art Project.jpg | 75px]] | Claude-Emmanuel, marquis de Pastoret | 17 December 1829 |
| :: |
Under the [[July Monarchy]] (1830–1848)
Presidents of the Chamber of Peers:
::data[format=table]
| Portrait | Name | Took office | Left office |
|---|---|---|---|
| [[File:Étienne-Denis Pasquier.jpg | 75px]] | Étienne-Denis Pasquier | 3 August 1830 |
| :: |
Under the [[Second French Empire|Second Empire]] (1852–1870)
Presidents of the Senate:
::data[format=table]
| Portrait | Name | Took office | Left office | Political party |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [[File:Jérôme Bonaparte.png | 75px]] | Jérôme Bonaparte | 28 January 1852 | 30 November 1852 |
| [[File:Troplong par Petit.jpg | 75px]] | Raymond-Theodore Troplong | 30 December 1852 | 1 March 1869 |
| [[File:Adrien Marie Devienne (1858-1869).jpg | 75px]] | Adrien Marie Devienne | 3 March 1869 | 20 July 1869 |
| [[File:Eugène Rouher painted by Alexandre Cabanel, ca. 1861.jpg | 75px]] | Eugène Rouher | 20 July 1869 | 4 September 1870 |
| :: |
Under the [[French Third Republic|Third Republic]] (1870–1940)
Presidents of the Senate:
::data[format=table]
| Portrait | Name | Took office | Left office | Political party |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [[File:Gaston d'Audiffret-Pasquier.jpg | 75px]] | Gaston Audiffret-Pasquier | 13 March 1876 | 15 January 1879 |
| [[File:Louis Martel.png | 75px]] | Louis Martel | 15 January 1879 | 25 May 1880 |
| [[File:Léon Say (1826-1896).jpg | 75px]] | Léon Say | 25 May 1880 | 2 February 1882 |
| [[File:Philippe Le Royer - photo J.M. Lopez.jpg | 75px]] | Philippe Le Royer | 2 February 1882 | 24 February 1893 |
| [[File:Julesferry.jpg | 75px]] | Jules Ferry | 24 February 1893 | 17 March 1893 |
| [[File:ETH-BIB-Paul-Armand Challemel-Lacour (1827-1896), Professor am eidg. Polytechnikum 1856-1859-Portrait-Portr 05548.tif (cropped).jpg | 75px]] | Paul-Armand Challemel-Lacour | 27 March 1893 | 16 January 1896 |
| [[File:Émile Loubet by Paul Nadar c1900.jpg | 75px]] | Émile Loubet | 16 January 1896 | 18 February 1899 |
| [[File:Armand Fallières Paris.jpg | 75px]] | Armand Fallières | 3 March 1899 | 17 January 1906 |
| [[File:Antonin Dubost.jpg | 75px]] | Antonin Dubost | 16 February 1906 | 14 January 1920 |
| [[File:Léon Bourgeois.jpg | 75px]] | Léon Bourgeois | 14 January 1920 | 22 February 1923 |
| [[File:Gaston Doumergue 1924.jpg | 75px]] | Gaston Doumergue | 22 February 1923 | 13 June 1924 |
| [[File:Justin de Selves.jpg | 75px]] | Justin de Selves | 19 June 1924 | 9 January 1927 |
| [[File:Paul Doumer portrait.jpg | 75px]] | Paul Doumer | 14 January 1927 | 13 May 1931 |
| [[File:Albert Lebrun 1932 (2) (cropped 2).jpg | 75px]] | Albert Lebrun | 11 June 1931 | 10 May 1932 |
| [[File:Jules Jeanneney.jpg | 75px]] | Jules Jeanneney | 3 June 1932 | 9 July 1940 |
| :: |
Under the [[French Fourth Republic|Fourth Republic]] (1946–1958)
Presidents of the Council of the Republic:
Political party
::data[format=table] | Portrait | Name | Took office | Left office | Political party | Popular Republican Movement}};"| | Radical Party (France)}};"| | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | [[File:Auguste Champetier de Ribes.png|70px]] | Auguste Champetier de Ribes | 27 December 1946 | 6 March 1947 | MRP | | | | [[File:Gaston Monnerville.jpg|70px]] | Gaston Monnerville | 18 March 1947 | 2 October 1958 | Radical | | | ::
Under the [[French Fifth Republic|Fifth Republic]] (1958–present)
Presidents of the Senate:
Political party
::data[format=table] | Portrait | Name | Took office | Left office | Political party | Radical Party (France)}};"| | Democratic Centre (France)}};"| | Democratic Centre (France)}};"| | Union for a Popular Movement}};"| | Union for a Popular Movement}};"| | Socialist Party (France)}};"| | Union for a Popular Movement}};"| | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | [[File:Gaston Monnerville.jpg|70px]] | Gaston Monnerville | 9 December 1958 | 2 October 1968 | Radical | | | | | | | | | [[File:Poher 1980s (cropped).jpg|70px]] | Alain Poher | 3 October 1968 | 1 October 1992 | CD (until 1976) CDS (from 1976; within the UDF from 1978) | | | | | | | | | [[File:René Monory (cropped).jpg|70px]] | René Monory | 2 October 1992 | 1 October 1998 | CDS (until 1995) FD (from 1995; within the UDF) | | | | | | | | | [[File:Christian Poncelet par Claude Truong-Ngoc octobre 2013.jpg|70px]] | Christian Poncelet | 2 October 1998 | 30 September 2008 | RPR (until 2002) UMP (from 2002) | | | | | | | | | [[File:Portrait G. Larcher 2014 (cropped).jpg|70px]] | Gérard Larcher | 1 October 2008 | 30 September 2011 | UMP | | | | | | | | | [[File:Jean-Pierre Bel (cropped).jpg|70px]] | Jean-Pierre Bel | 1 October 2011 | 30 September 2014 | PS | | | | | | | | | [[File:Portrait G. Larcher 2014 (cropped).jpg|70px]] | Gérard Larcher | 1 October 2014 | Incumbent | UMP (until 2015) LR (since 2015) | | | | | | | | ::
References
References
- "The Speaker of the Senate". Senate (France).
- link. (28 July 2020)
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