FREYCINET, LOUIS-CHARLES DE SAULCES de. French politician, b. 14 Nov. 1828 – Foix (Ariège), d. 15 May 1923 in Paris. A graduate of the École polytechnique in Paris, he worked as an engineer with the Compagnie des chemins de fer du Midi and later in the state administration. In 1876 he became a senator, and the following year minister of Public Works; from 29 Dec. 1879 to 19 Sept. 1880 he served as President of the Council and minister of Foreign Affairs, at a time when the question of religious congregations’ teaching arose.
According to the well-known seventh article of the bill introduced in 1879 by the then minister of Public Instruction J. Ferry, public teaching was to be forbidden to the Jesuits and to members of religious congregations not recognized by the state. Approved by the Chamber, the article was rejected by the Senate; the Chamber then approved a subsequent motion that called on the government to enforce the laws on unauthorized congregations and forced the ministry to issue, on 29 March 1880 two decrees: one suppressing the Society of Jesus on French territory, the other making state recognition compulsory for unauthorized congregations. Eager not to provoke excessive friction with the Holy See, Freycinet began negotiations with Rome to reach a joint agreement on the application of the second of these decrees, but, encountering hostility from the Chamber and even from colleagues in the ministry, he was compelled to resign. Later he held the office of President of the Council several more times and directed the ministries of Foreign Affairs and War. During the First World War he served as minister without portfolio. He published his memoirs (Mes souvenirs 1846–93, Paris 1911–13).