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Jules Désiré Colombe
Jules Désiré Colombe
	Portrait on his tombstone
Born	16 May 1859; Bléville (Le Havre), France
Died	12 December 1902 (aged 43); Nantes, France
Nationality	french
Political party	French Workers' Party

Jules Désiré Colombe was a french blacksmith worker, known as leader of the labour exchange's creation in Nantes in 1892 and part of Limoges congress in 1895. A street and a cultural building hold his name in Nantes.

Biography

Early life

Jules Désiré Colombe was born in Bléville that is today part of Le Havre city, on 16th may 1859.

He established later in Nantes, as a blacksmith worker. ^[1]

Member of Nantes municipal council

He sat on the Nantes Municipal Council from 1888 to 1892. First a member of the French Workers' Party and close to Charles Brunelière [fr], one of the founders of Nantes socialism, he is known to be a unity supporter. ^[1]

Leader in the creation of the labour exchange (Bourse du travail) in Nantes

He played a key role in the founding of the Nantes Bourse du Travail, for which he was the secretariat from its creation in 1892. ^[1] This happens in historical context of federation of labour exchanges creation. ^[2] On his proposal, three places were reserved for women on the General Council (Conseil général) in charge to vote the final bureau, and one place on the Executive Commission (Commission exécutive).^[1]

Secretary of national congress of French trade unions in 1894

In September 1894, a national congress standed at Nantes : it was attended by 21 Bourses (776 trade unions), 30 federations (682 trade unions), and 204 trade unions which sent their own delegates. ^[3] He was part of the opposants to the political and union line of his party by voting for the organization of a general strike.^[4]

Member of Limoges Congress which created General Confederation of Labour

The following year, in Limoges, a congress held after the union of workers' organizations achieved in Nantes. He was one of its national secretaries. ^[1] Others former members of French Workers' Party^[5] were also present in Limoges, for instance : Édouard Treich, secretary of the Federation of Workers' Unions of Limoges (Fédération des syndicats ouvriers de Limoges), Jean-Baptiste Calvignac [fr], miners in Carmaux mining company.^[6] The General Confederation of Labour (CGT) was founded in 1895, at the Congress of Limoges. ^[3]

Later life

In 1895, he left the Secretariat of the Nantes Bourse du travail and set up a small blacksmith's workshop with two partners.^[1]

Death and legacy

He died in December 1902 at the age of 42. ^[1]

He is buried in the Cemetery Miséricorde in Nantes.

His name was given to the street in which the second premises of the Nantes Bourse du travail were located. ^[1]

Footnotes

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Lehébel 2012.
^ "Federation of Labour Exchanges - French trade union" [Fédération des Bourses du Travail]. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
^ ^a ^b Netlau, Max (1932). "Fernand Pelloutier and syndicalism - Max Nettlau". Translated from the Spanish edition of Fernand Pelloutier's History of the Bourses du Travail (Historia de las Bolsas del Trabajo, Zero-Zyx, Madrid, 1978).
^ cf Fédération nationale des syndicats [fr] [Le congrès de Nantes (1894): évènement précipitant la chute de la Fédération]
^ Also named ''guedists'' in reference to the founder Jules Guesde
^ Beauvisage, Jérôme (November 2018). "Le congrès de Limoges et l'unité ouvrière" [The Limoges Congress and workers' Unity] (PDF). Les cahiers de l'institut CGT d'histoire sociale (folder) (in French): 8.