DESPREZ, JULIEN-FLORIAN. - Cardinal, b. 14 Apr. 1807 at Ostricourt, archdiocese of Cambrai, d. 20 Jan. 1895 at Toulouse. Ordained priest in 1829, he immediately proved himself a pastor fully conscious of his lofty mission, devoting himself tirelessly to the victims of cholera, with such ardour as to suffer in his health. He was successively parish priest at Pont-à-Marcq, Templeuve, and Roubaix. In 1850 he was appointed bishop of St-Denis, on the island of Réunion.
A diocese entirely to be constituted ex novo awaited him, and he set about his work with energy and in 1856 had the foundation stone of the new Cathedral laid. His frail health and the colonial climate, however, seriously hindered the exercise of his ministry. He was therefore transferred in 1857 and in 1859 promoted to the archiepiscopal see of Toulouse, where he remained until his death. On 12 May 1879 Leo XIII created him cardinal, with the title of SS. Marcellinus and Peter.