Adolphe Thiers - Last Years

Last Years

He survived, after his fall, for four years, continuing to sit in the now mostly monarchist Assembly and, after the dissolution of 1876, in the Chamber of Deputies, and sometimes, though rarely, speaking. He was also, on the occasion of this dissolution, elected senator for Belfort, which his exertions had saved for France; but he preferred the lower house, where he sat as of old for Paris. On 16 May 1877, the now 80-year old Thiers was one of the "363" who voted for no confidence in the Broglie ministry (thus paying his debts), and he took a considerable part in organizing the subsequent electoral campaign as an ally of the Republicans. But he was not to see its success, as he succumbed to a fatal stroke on September 3 at St. Germain-en-Laye while writing an election manifesto.

Thiers was buried in Cimetière du Père Lachaise, an ironic resting place since one of the bloodiest battles of the Commune took place within the cemetery walls. Annually, the French Left holds a ceremony at the Communards' Wall to mark the anniversary of the occasion. Thiers' tomb has occasionally been the object of vandalism.

Thiers had long been married, and his wife and sister-in-law, Mlle Félicie Dosne, were his constant companions; but his only child, a daughter, had died years earlier. He had been a member of the Academy since 1834. His personal appearance was remarkable, and not imposing, for he was very short, with plain features, ungainly gestures and manners, very near-sighted, and of disagreeable voice; yet he became (after wisely giving up an attempt at the ornate style of oratory) a very effective speaker in a kind of conversational manner, and in the epigram of debate he had no superior among the statesmen of his time except Disraeli.