- Gaston Calmette
Gaston Calmette (January 30, 1858 in
Montpellier – March 16, 1914,Paris ) was a Frenchjournalist .In January 1914 Calmette, who had been editor of the newspaper "
Le Figaro " since 1902, launched a campaign againstMinister of Finance Joseph Caillaux , known for his pacifist stance towardsGermany . During this campaign, which was orchestrated byLouis Barthou andRaymond Poincaré , "Le Figaro" published several letters from the Minister's private correspondence. Caillaux's second wife Henriette, fearing that the newspaper would also make public a love letter that showed how he was already having a relationship with her during his first marriage, entered Calmette's office on March 16, 1914 and shot him four times. Calmette died instantly. Caillaux had to resign his post the next day, but during a spectacular trial later that year his wife was acquitted.Marcel Proust dedicated "Swann's Way", the first volume of his novel "In Search of Lost Time ", to Calmette 'as a testimony of deep and affectionate recognition'. [ [http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/p/proust/marcel/p96d/index.html A la recherche du temps perdu Tome I] ]Calmette was the brother of the bacteriologist
Albert Calmette .References
External links
*fr icon [http://www.aei.ca/~anbou/calmette.htm Biography]
*fr icon [http://www.herodote.net/histoire03161.htm Mme Caillaux tire sur Gaston Calmette]
*fr icon [http://www.lexpress.fr/info/societe/dossier/faitdiv/dossier.asp?ida=429007 Une épouse outragée]
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