GREVY, FRANCOIS PAUL JULES (1807-1891), French statesman, president of the republic, was born at Mont sous-Vaudrey, Jura, on Aug. 15, 1807. An advocate by profession, and a strong republican, he was deputy for Jura to the constit uent assembly (1848) . Foreseeing the election of Louis Bonaparte as president, he proposed to vest the executive power in the presi dent of the council, elected and removable by the assembly, i.e., the suppression of the office of president of the republic. He was, consequently, excluded from public life until 1868, when he took a prominent place in the Republican Party. Grevy was president of the national assembly (Feb. 16, 1871, to April 2, 1873), presi dent of the chamber of deputies (1876-79), and on the resigna tion of Marshal MacMahon, president of the republic (Jan. 3o. 1879). He was an excellent president, but, unfortunately, after accepting (Dec. 18, 1885) a second term of office, a serious scandal arose by the exposure of the traffic in the decorations of the Legion of Honour carried on by his son-in-law, Daniel Wilson.
Grevy was not directly implicated, and did not fully realize his situation. Resignation was forced on him (Dec. 2, 1887). He died at his native place on Sept. 9, 1891.
See his Discours yolitiques et judiciaires (2 vols.. i888), edit. L. Delabrousse. Also A. Barbou, Jules Grevy (1879) ; and E. Zevort, La presidence de Jules Grevy (1898) .