List of presidents of the Senate of France

This article lists the presidents of the Senate of France and assimilated chambers.

Gérard Larcher, who has been President of the Senate since 2014, previously holding the office from 2008 to 2011, escorted by Republican Guards.

The Senate of France 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 or resignation 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 Directory (1795–1799)

Presidents of the Council of Ancients:

Portrait Name Took office Left office
Claude-Antoine Rudel28 October 179528 October 1795
Louis Marie de La Révellière-Lépeaux28 October 17952 November 1795
Pierre-Charles-Louis Baudin2 November 179523 November 1795
François Denis Tronchet23 November 179522 December 1795
Théodore Vernier22 December 179522 January 1796
Guillaume François Charles Goupil de Préfelne22 January 179620 February 1796
Claude Ambroise Régnier20 February 179621 March 1796
Jacques Antoine Creuzé-Latouche21 March 179620 April 1796
Jean-Barthélémy Le Couteulx de Canteleu20 April 179620 May 1796
Charles-François Lebrun20 May 179619 June 1796
Jean-Étienne-Marie Portalis19 June 179619 July 1796
Jean Dussaulx19 July 179618 August 1796
Honoré Muraire18 August 179623 September 1796
Roger Ducos23 September 179622 October 1796
Jean-Gérard Lacuée, count of Cessac22 October 179621 November 1796
Jean-Jacques Bréard21 November 179621 December 1796
Boniface Paradis21 December 179620 January 1797
Sébastien Ligeret de Beauvais20 January 179719 February 1797
Joseph Clément Poullain de Grandprey19 February 179721 March 1797
Jean-François-Bertrand Delmas21 March 179720 April 1797
Edme-Bonaventure Courtois20 April 179720 May 1797
François Barbé-Marbois20 May 179719 June 1797
Louis Bernard de Saint-Affrique19 June 179719 July 1797
Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours19 July 179718 August 1797
André-Daniel Laffon de Ladebat18 August 17974 September 1797
Jean-Antoine Marbot6 September 179723 September 1797
Emmanuel Crétet23 September 179722 October 1797
Jean-Pierre Lacombe-Saint-Michel22 October 179721 November 1797
Jean François Philibert Rossée21 November 179721 December 1797
Jean-Baptiste Marragon21 December 179720 January 1798
Jean Rousseau20 January 179819 February 1798
Pardoux Bordas19 February 179821 March 1798
Étienne Mollevaut21 March 179820 April 1798
Jacques Poisson de Coudreville20 April 179820 May 1798
Claude Ambroise Régnier20 May 179819 June 1798
Jean-Antoine Marbot19 June 179819 July 1798
Étienne Maynaud de Bizefranc de Laveaux19 July 179818 August 1798
Pierre Antoine Laloy18 August 179823 September 1798
Benoît Michel Decomberousse23 September 179822 October 1798
Emmanuel Pérès de Lagesse22 October 179821 November 1798
Jean-Augustin Moreau de Vormes21 November 179821 December 1798
Jean-Baptiste Perrin des Vosges21 December 179820 January 1799
Dominique Joseph Garat20 January 179919 February 1799
Jean-Aimé Delacoste19 February 179921 March 1799
Mathieu Depère21 March 179920 April 1799
Claude-Pierre de Delay d'Agier20 April 179920 May 1799
Charles Claude Christophe Gourdan20 May 179919 June 1799
Pierre-Charles-Louis Baudin19 June 179919 July 1799
Louis Dubois du Bais19 July 179918 August 1799
Mathieu-Augustin Cornet18 August 179924 September 1799
Joseph Cornudet des Chaumettes24 September 179923 October 1799
Louis-Nicolas Lemercier23 October 179910 November 1799

Under the Consulate (1799–1804)

Presidents of the Sénat conservateur:

Portrait Name Took office Left office
Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès27 December 179913 February 1800
François Barthélemy13 February 180027 February 1801
François Denis Tronchet27 February 18012 August 1801
François Christophe Kellermann2 August 180118 January 1802
Louis-Nicolas Lemercier18 January 18024 August 1802

Under the First Empire (1804–1814)

Presidents of the Sénat conservateur:

Portrait Name Took office Left office
François de Neufchâteau19 May 180419 May 1806
Gaspard Monge19 May 18061 July 1807
Bernard Germain de Lacépède1 July 18071 July 1808
Jean-Denis-René de Saint-Vallier1 July 18081 July 1809
Germain Garnier1 July 18091 July 1811
Bernard Germain de Lacépède1 July 18111 July 1813
François Barthélemy1 July 18131 July 1814

Under the Bourbon Restoration (1814–1830)

Presidents of the Chamber of Peers:

Portrait Name Took office Left office
Charles-Henri, chevalier Dambray4 June 181420 March 1815
Jean Jacques Régis de Cambacérès2 June 18157 July 1815
Charles-Henri, chevalier Dambray12 October 181512 December 1829
Claude-Emmanuel, marquis de Pastoret17 December 18293 August 1830

Under the July Monarchy (1830–1848)

Presidents of the Chamber of Peers:

Portrait Name Took office Left office
Étienne-Denis Pasquier3 August 183024 February 1848

Under the Second Empire (1852–1870)

Presidents of the Senate:

Portrait Name Took office Left office Political party
Jérôme Bonaparte28 January 185230 November 1852Bonapartist
Raymond-Theodore Troplong30 December 18521 March 1869Bonapartist
Adrien Marie Devienne3 March 186920 July 1869Bonapartist
Eugène Rouher20 July 18694 September 1870Bonapartist

Under the Third Republic (1870–1940)

Presidents of the Senate:

Portrait Name Took office Left office Political party
Gaston Audiffret-Pasquier13 March 187615 January 1879Conservative
Louis Martel15 January 187925 May 1880Conservative
Léon Say25 May 18802 February 1882Republican
Philippe Le Royer2 February 188224 February 1893Republican
Jules Ferry24 February 189317 March 1893Left Republican
Paul-Armand Challemel-Lacour27 March 189316 January 1896Opportunist Republican
Émile Loubet16 January 189618 February 1899Left Republican
Armand Fallières3 March 189917 January 1906Democratic Republican Alliance
Antonin Dubost16 February 190614 January 1920Democratic Republican Alliance
Léon Bourgeois14 January 192022 February 1923Radical
Gaston Doumergue22 February 192313 June 1924Radical
Justin de Selves19 June 19249 January 1927Radical
Paul Doumer14 January 192713 May 1931Radical
Albert Lebrun11 June 193110 May 1932Democratic Alliance
Jules Jeanneney3 June 19329 July 1940Radical

Under the Fourth Republic (1946–1958)

Presidents of the Council of the Republic:

Political party
  MRP   Radical

Portrait Name Took office Left office Political party
Auguste Champetier de Ribes27 December 19466 March 1947MRP
Gaston Monnerville18 March 19472 October 1958Radical

Under the Fifth Republic (1958–present)

Presidents of the Senate:

Political party
  Radical   CD; CDS; FD   RPR; UMP; LR   PS

Portrait Name Took office Left office Political party
Gaston Monnerville9 December 19582 October 1968Radical
Alain Poher3 October 19681 October 1992CD (until 1976)
CDS (from 1976;
within the UDF from 1978)
René Monory2 October 19921 October 1998CDS (until 1995)
FD (from 1995;
within the UDF)
Christian Poncelet2 October 199830 September 2008RPR (until 2002)
UMP (from 2002)
Gérard Larcher1 October 200830 September 2011UMP
Jean-Pierre Bel1 October 201130 September 2014PS
Gérard Larcher1 October 2014IncumbentUMP (until 2015)
LR (since 2015)

See also
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