List of presidents of the Senate of France

This article lists the presidents of the Senate of France (French: Président du Sénat français; official translation: Speaker of the Senate)^[1] and assimilated chambers.

President of the French Senate
Président du Sénat français (French)
Logo of the French Senate
Incumbent Gérard Larcher since 1 October 2014
Senate of France
Type	Presiding officer
Member of	French Parliament
Residence	Petit Luxembourg
Term length	3 years, renewable
Formation	28 October 1795
First holder	Claude-Antoine Rudel
Succession	1st
Website	Official website

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.^[2] 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 Rudel	28 October 1795	28 October 1795
	Louis Marie de La Révellière-Lépeaux	28 October 1795	2 November 1795
	Pierre-Charles-Louis Baudin	2 November 1795	23 November 1795
	François Denis Tronchet	23 November 1795	22 December 1795
	Théodore Vernier	22 December 1795	22 January 1796
	Guillaume François Charles Goupil de Préfelne	22 January 1796	20 February 1796
	Claude Ambroise Régnier	20 February 1796	21 March 1796
	Jacques Antoine Creuzé-Latouche	21 March 1796	20 April 1796
	Jean-Barthélémy Le Couteulx de Canteleu	20 April 1796	20 May 1796
	Charles-François Lebrun	20 May 1796	19 June 1796
	Jean-Étienne-Marie Portalis	19 June 1796	19 July 1796
	Jean Dussaulx	19 July 1796	18 August 1796
	Honoré Muraire	18 August 1796	23 September 1796
	Roger Ducos	23 September 1796	22 October 1796
	Jean-Gérard Lacuée, count of Cessac	22 October 1796	21 November 1796
	Jean-Jacques Bréard	21 November 1796	21 December 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
	François Barbé-Marbois	20 May 1797	19 June 1797
	Louis Bernard de Saint-Affrique	19 June 1797	19 July 1797
	Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours	19 July 1797	18 August 1797
	André-Daniel Laffon de Ladebat	18 August 1797	4 September 1797
	Jean-Antoine Marbot	6 September 1797	23 September 1797
	Emmanuel Crétet	23 September 1797	22 October 1797
	Jean-Pierre Lacombe-Saint-Michel	22 October 1797	21 November 1797
	Jean François Philibert Rossée	21 November 1797	21 December 1797
	Jean-Baptiste Marragon	21 December 1797	20 January 1798
	Jean Rousseau	20 January 1798	19 February 1798
	Pardoux Bordas	19 February 1798	21 March 1798
	Étienne Mollevaut	21 March 1798	20 April 1798
	Jacques Poisson de Coudreville	20 April 1798	20 May 1798
	Claude Ambroise Régnier	20 May 1798	19 June 1798
	Jean-Antoine Marbot	19 June 1798	19 July 1798
	Étienne Maynaud de Bizefranc de Laveaux	19 July 1798	18 August 1798
	Pierre Antoine Laloy	18 August 1798	23 September 1798
	Benoît Michel Decomberousse	23 September 1798	22 October 1798
	Emmanuel Pérès de Lagesse	22 October 1798	21 November 1798
	Jean-Augustin Moreau de Vormes	21 November 1798	21 December 1798
	Jean-Baptiste Perrin des Vosges	21 December 1798	20 January 1799
	Dominique Joseph Garat	20 January 1799	19 February 1799
	Jean-Aimé Delacoste	19 February 1799	21 March 1799
	Mathieu Depère	21 March 1799	20 April 1799
	Claude-Pierre de Delay d'Agier	20 April 1799	20 May 1799
	Charles Claude Christophe Gourdan	20 May 1799	19 June 1799
	Pierre-Charles-Louis Baudin	19 June 1799	19 July 1799
	Louis Dubois du Bais	19 July 1799	18 August 1799
	Mathieu-Augustin Cornet	18 August 1799	24 September 1799
	Joseph Cornudet des Chaumettes	24 September 1799	23 October 1799
	Louis-Nicolas Lemercier	23 October 1799	10 November 1799

Under the Consulate (1799–1804)

Presidents of the Sénat conservateur:

Portrait	Name	Took office	Left office
	Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès	27 December 1799	13 February 1800
	François Barthélemy	13 February 1800	27 February 1801
	François Denis Tronchet	27 February 1801	2 August 1801
	François Christophe Kellermann	2 August 1801	18 January 1802
	Louis-Nicolas Lemercier	18 January 1802	4 August 1802

Under the First Empire (1804–1814)

Presidents of the Sénat conservateur:

Portrait	Name	Took office	Left office
	François de Neufchâteau	19 May 1804	19 May 1806
	Gaspard Monge	19 May 1806	1 July 1807
	Bernard Germain de Lacépède	1 July 1807	1 July 1808
	Jean-Denis-René de Saint-Vallier	1 July 1808	1 July 1809
	Germain Garnier	1 July 1809	1 July 1811
	Bernard Germain de Lacépède	1 July 1811	1 July 1813
	François Barthélemy	1 July 1813	1 July 1814

Under the Bourbon Restoration (1814–1830)

Presidents of the Chamber of Peers:

Portrait	Name	Took office	Left office
	Charles-Henri, chevalier Dambray	4 June 1814	20 March 1815
	Jean Jacques Régis de Cambacérès	2 June 1815	7 July 1815
	Charles-Henri, chevalier Dambray	12 October 1815	12 December 1829
	Claude-Emmanuel, marquis de Pastoret	17 December 1829	3 August 1830

Under the July Monarchy (1830–1848)

Presidents of the Chamber of Peers:

Portrait	Name	Took office	Left office
	Étienne-Denis Pasquier	3 August 1830	24 February 1848

Under the Second Empire (1852–1870)

Presidents of the Senate:

Portrait	Name	Took office	Left office	Political party
	Jérôme Bonaparte	28 January 1852	30 November 1852	Bonapartist
	Raymond-Theodore Troplong	30 December 1852	1 March 1869	Bonapartist
	Adrien Marie Devienne	3 March 1869	20 July 1869	Bonapartist
	Eugène Rouher	20 July 1869	4 September 1870	Bonapartist

Under the Third Republic (1870–1940)

Presidents of the Senate:

Portrait	Name	Took office	Left office	Political party
	Gaston Audiffret-Pasquier	13 March 1876	15 January 1879	Conservative
	Louis Martel	15 January 1879	25 May 1880	Conservative
	Léon Say	25 May 1880	2 February 1882	Republican
	Philippe Le Royer	2 February 1882	24 February 1893	Republican
	Jules Ferry	24 February 1893	17 March 1893	Left Republican
	Paul-Armand Challemel-Lacour	27 March 1893	16 January 1896	Opportunist Republican
	Émile Loubet	16 January 1896	18 February 1899	Left Republican
	Armand Fallières	3 March 1899	17 January 1906	Democratic Republican Alliance
	Antonin Dubost	16 February 1906	14 January 1920	Democratic Republican Alliance
	Léon Bourgeois	14 January 1920	22 February 1923	Radical
	Gaston Doumergue	22 February 1923	13 June 1924	Radical
	Justin de Selves	19 June 1924	9 January 1927	Radical
	Paul Doumer	14 January 1927	13 May 1931	Radical
	Albert Lebrun	11 June 1931	10 May 1932	Democratic Alliance
	Jules Jeanneney	3 June 1932	9 July 1940	Radical

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 Ribes	27 December 1946	6 March 1947	MRP
		Gaston Monnerville	18 March 1947	2 October 1958	Radical

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 Monnerville	9 December 1958	2 October 1968	Radical
		Alain Poher	3 October 1968	1 October 1992	CD (until 1976) CDS (from 1976; within the UDF from 1978)
		René Monory	2 October 1992	1 October 1998	CDS (until 1995) FD (from 1995; within the UDF)
		Christian Poncelet	2 October 1998	30 September 2008	RPR (until 2002) UMP (from 2002)
		Gérard Larcher	1 October 2008	30 September 2011	UMP
		Jean-Pierre Bel	1 October 2011	30 September 2014	PS
		Gérard Larcher	1 October 2014	Incumbent	UMP (until 2015) LR (since 2015)

See also

• Senate (France)
• Council of Ancients (France)
• Council of the Republic (France)
• Chamber of Peers (France)

References

1. "The Speaker of the Senate". senat.fr. Senate (France). Retrieved 15 July 2022.
2. The exact title is "President of the Senate, exercising provisionally the functions of the President of the Republic"; see how Alain Poher is referred to on signing statutes into law, e.g. law 69-412 Archived 28 July 2020 at the Wayback Machine