LAMY, ETIENNE-MARIE-VICTOR. - French Catholic politician and writer, b. June 2, 1845 at Cize in the Jura, d. Jan. 9, 1919 in Paris. He studied with the Dominicans at Sorèze, where he was a pupil of Lacordaire.
Elected deputy to the National Assembly in 1871 and 1872, in 1876 and 1877, he belonged to the Republican Left, but withdrew when he realized that the word "Republican" was becoming synonymous with an anti-Catholic policy. This break with the Republicans occurred in 1879, when the Ferry bill on higher education was presented to the Chamber. Article 7 of this bill, which prohibited religious teaching, was strongly opposed by Lamy, who declared in the Assembly that “the first disastrous result of this bill has been to replace political parties in the country with religious parties.” Not re-elected in 1881, Lamy began a fruitful career as a writer. Among his books are *L'armée et la démocratie* (1885) and *Etudes sur le Second Empire* (1895). President of the electoral federation formed to unite Catholic groups in view of the 1886 elections, Lamy then directed the *Correspondant* from 1904 to 1910. In 1905 he became a member of the French Academy.
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