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Jules Fischer | |
|---|---|
 Engraving (c. 1886) depicting Jules Fischer falling at the Châteauvilain factory | |
| Born | 5 November 1847 Lyon, France |
| Died | 1908 |
| Nationality | French |
| Occupation | Textile factory director |
| Known for | The Châteauvilain affair |
| Awards | Medal from the Count of Paris |
Jules Fischer (5 November 1847 – 1908) was a French textile factory director, known for leading a silk garment factory in Isère and for his involvement in the 1886 "Châteauvilain affair," in which he and his female workers opposed law enforcement agents seeking to shut down the factory's chapel, deemed unauthorized.
Biography
[edit]Jules Frédéric Fischer was born in Lyon’s Croix-Rousse district on 5 November 1847 into a textile-industry family. His father, Jean Fischer (son of Joseph Fischer), was a tailor in Lyon, and his mother was Rosalie Thermoz (1825–1875). He had an elder sister, Anne Marie Fischer (1843–1901).
He resided at the family property known as Villa Fischer in Maubec near Bourgoin-Jallieu. Widowed in 1881 after the death of his first wife, Benoîte Gaubet (married 20 June 1878 in Lyon), he remarried Sophie Léonie Guillaud (1865–1922) on 24 October 1883 in Le Passage.
Jules Fischer had two children from his first marriage and four from his second. His son Jean-Marie, who worked in the family factory, died in Châteauvilain in late 1900 at the age of 19. Fischer remained in charge of the factory at that time.
Châteauvilain affair
[edit]Jules Fischer was the director of a major silk garment factory, the Combe des Éparres mill in the commune of Châteauvilain (near the town of Bourgoin-Jallieu in Isère), employing around 400 female workers.[1] It was a so-called "factory-boarding school" (usine-pensionnat), where the women workers lived on the premises. The factory itself was owned by the Giraud brothers, based in Lyon.[2]
An unauthorized chapel
[edit]The Châteauvilain factory contained a chapel, which was at the heart of the affair. It had originally been built in 1843, when the factory was acquired, and was relocated inside the main building in 1885 after the original premises became too small. Four nuns of the Order of Saint Philomena, including a Mother Superior, supervised the female workers during recreation (replacing the forewomen) and also managed domestic services and chapel duties.
A rivalry developed between Mayor Douillet, a republican, and Father Guillaud, Fischer’s uncle and supported by the factory owners. Tensions increased when the mayor, who led the local anticlerical party, asked the Bishop of Grenoble, Amand-Joseph Fava, to replace the priests permanently assigned to the factory chapel.
At the time, Bishop Fava was a prominent opponent of the secular Republic. After the dissolution of unauthorized male congregations and the secularization of schools and hospitals, the Republic was preparing to adopt the Goblet Law of 1886, which prohibited members of religious orders from teaching in public schools and completed the Jules Ferry laws.
Rather than dismissing the priests, Bishop Fava decided to visit the chapel and bless it. This move, supported by the Catholic press such as Le Nouvelliste de Lyon (backed by one of the Giraud brothers), further inflamed local politics. The mayor, who was also seeking to close a congregation-run girls’ school that competed with the secular public school, demanded the closure of the chapel before the bishop’s arrival.
Under the terms of the Concordat of 1801, the State maintained places of worship only when they were officially declared and authorized, which was not the case for this chapel. Although the requirement for authorization had largely fallen into disuse, the issue had already been raised in 1885 when the chapel was relocated: on 19 June, the prefect of Isère formally ordered Jules Fischer to close it. Despite this, Bishop Fava blessed the chapel later that same month.
Tensions arose when the local republican mayor ordered the chapel closed as illegal. Fischer and the nuns resisted, prompting law enforcement intervention and a legal standoff. The incident drew national attention as a clash between industrial paternalism and laïcité in the French Third Republic.
Police intervention
[edit]On 29 March 1886, Minister of Public Instruction and Worship René Goblet sent a dispatch to the prefect of Isère regarding the chapel. On 2 April, the prefect issued an order for its permanent closure. On 6 April 1886, the police commissioner of Bourgoin went to the Combe factory and informed Jules Fischer of the “immediate closure, as an unauthorized place of worship, of the chapel illegally opened inside the factory” by prefectural decree. The commissioner, however, failed to seal the chapel doors, as Fischer refused to comply until his employers in Lyon had been consulted. When he returned the following day with two gendarmes, the commissioner again failed, since Fischer was still awaiting instructions from Lyon.[1]
On 8 April 1886, Commissioner Cloître returned to the factory accompanied by two sergeants and five gendarmes, under the supervision of Sub-prefect Balland. They massed at the entrance, which Fischer kept locked. Inside, Father Guillaud assembled the workers at eight o’clock and urged them to block the authorities, accusing the mayor of being behind the operation. By mid-morning, the machines stopped and the workers left their posts, encouraged by the nuns to arm themselves for resistance. After the attempt to pick the lock of the main door failed, the gendarmes entered through a side door leading to a garden. Fischer and about ten workers confronted them; Fischer fired two shots into the air to intimidate the troops.
According to legend, he shouted: *“The first one who enters, I’ll blow his brains out.”* Fischer fired, and the gendarme Bonnieu responded by shooting him in the jaw. Fischer collapsed, and the gendarme rushed to subdue him. To defend her director, a worker named Henriette Bonnevie attacked the gendarme, emptying the contents of a chamber pot over his head. Blinded, the gendarme fired and killed her. Another worker was wounded in the thigh.[3]
After the exchange of gunfire, the gendarmes quickly gained control of the situation in front of the chapel. However, since the doors had been removed by the Mother Superior, the process of sealing the chapel took longer than expected.[1]
Reactions and trial
[edit]On 13 April 1886, Catholic deputy Albert de Mun denounced the government in the Chamber of Deputies. Goblet was criticized for his intervention, and conservative newspapers portrayed Henriette Bonnevie as a Catholic martyr.
Anticlerical voices, however, emphasized the role of the priests and nuns in provoking the conflict, and noted that only a minority of workers had supported Fischer, contrary to Catholic press claims.
A trial for “armed resistance to law enforcement” followed, causing a national stir. Opinions were divided: some described it as a “clerical riot long prepared” (Gustave Naquet), others as an “unheard-of aggression, unworthy of a civilized people” (de Mun).
The Giraud brothers had in fact written to Fischer telling him not to resist, but it remains unclear if he ever received the letter.
The Count of Paris, grandson of Louis-Philippe, awarded Fischer a medal for defending the chapel. Fischer was fined but enjoyed strong support from workers and Catholic circles. A subscription was raised in his honor and for Bonnevie’s memory.
References
[edit]- "Jules Fischer". French Wikipedia (in French). Archived from the original on 25 February 2025. Retrieved 3 September 2025.
- "Les usines-pensionnats au xixe siècle dans le Dauphiné : Culture et religion d'entreprise". Les usines-pensionnats au XIXᵉ siècle (Châteauvilain). Ethnologie de la France. Éditions de la Maison des sciences de l’homme. 1989. pp. 233–249. ISBN 978-2-7351-1870-0. Archived from the original on 6 August 2018. Retrieved 3 September 2025.
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