Georges Humann
| Jean-Georges Humann | |
|---|---|
Jean-Georges Humann
by Gabriel-Christophe Guérin |
|
| Born |
6 August 1780 Strasbourg, France |
| Died | 25 April 1842 (aged 61) Paris, France |
| Nationality | French |
| Occupation | Financier and politician |
| Known for | Minister of Finance |
Jean-Georges Humann (6 August 1780 – 25 April 1842) was a French financier and politician. During the July Monarchy (1830–1848) he was several times Minister of Finance.
Jean-Georges Humann was born in Strasbourg, Bas-Rhin, on 6 August 1780. His parents were Jacques Humann and Anne-Marie Schmitz. His family was German in origin. His father was a bourgeois of Strasbourg, but his family was not wealthy and his education was limited. By nature he was reserved, taciturn and laconic.
When he was fourteen Humann was apprenticed to a tobacco merchant. By the age of eighteen he and an associate were running a small trading company. In 1799 he married Louise Philippine Antoinette Breck in Strasbourg. She died two years later. On 24 August 1802 he married Madeleine Heiligenthal (1778-1836). They had four sons and two daughters.
At a very young age, between 1800 and 1810, Humann acquired a considerable fortune and became a celebrity in Alsace. His wealth came from smuggling at the time of the Continental Blockade, when trade in goods of British origin was prohibited. He became in turn a member of the Strasbourg Chamber of Commerce, a judge at the commerce court in 1812, and a member of the Administrative Committee of Civil Hospices in 1816. During the famines of 1812 and 1816-17 Humann played an important role in supplying grain. In 1818 Humann led a deputation charged with presenting the grievances and demands of the Strasbourg business community to the government, with great success.
In 1820 Humann was elected a Deputy for Bas-Rhin. He soon became one of the leading supporters of economic and political liberalism, and a defender of the interests of Alsace. In January 1821 he and his associates offered to lend the money needed to complete the Rhône-Rhine canal. His maiden speech in the chamber of deputies was on 3 July 1821 in support of this project. He was involved in the debates about tobacco, speaking against a monopoly and in favor of a consumption tax. In February 1823 Humann spoke against the planned invasion of Spain, which he felt was against the interests of the Bourbons.
From the middle of the 1820s he was involved in various large or technically advanced industrial projects as a manager, organizer or source of funding. On 31 October 1825 Humann and associates obtained a salt mining concession, which proved profitable. He was appointed a member of the general council of commerce, chaired by Jean-Baptiste de Villèle, the Minister of the Interior. In November 1827 Humann failed to be reelected for Bas-Rhin. With the support of Élie, duc Decazes, a former minister of Louis XVIII, he was elected deputy for Villefranche on 30 May 1828.
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