KELLER, EMILE, count. — French Catholic political figure, b. at Belfort on 8 Oct. 1828, d. in Paris on 20 Feb. 1909. He served as a deputy in Parliament for the Upper Rhine (1859) and, after the cession of Alsace, for the constituency of Belfort (1871).
He was a staunch supporter of the temporal power of the popes and consequently strongly criticised imperial policy in Italy. Following the events of 16 May 1876, he was one of the 158 right-wing deputies who backed the Broglie ministry. He was a pioneer of social Catholicism with his work *L'encyclique du 8 déc. 1864 et les principes de 1789*, which is said to have inspired De Mun and La Tour-du-Pin. He also wrote *Histoire de France* (2 vols., Paris 1858) and *Le gén. Lamoricière, sa vie militaire, politique et religieuse* (2 vols., 1873). In 1889 he retired from public life.