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Mirès, Jules Isaac

The 1901 Jewish Encyclopedia

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French financier; born at Bordeaux Dec. 9, 1809; died at Marseilles in 1871. A broker in 1848, he became, after the February Revolution of that year, director of the gas company of Arles. Subsequently he bought the "Journal des Chemins de Fer" and founded the "Conseiller du Peuple," which became quite popular through Lamartine's contributions. Together with Millaud, Mirès organized the "Caisse des Chemins de Fer," of which he became sole director in 1853. In 1851 he bought "Le Pays" and "Le Constitutionnel." He undertook colossal works at Marseilles, including the construction of a harbor and of a new quarter of the city, and the installation of a system of illumination by gas. In 1860 he obtained the concession for the construction of the Roman railroads and for the negotiation of the Turkish loan. On July 11, 1861, he was sentenced to five years' imprisonment and to the payment of a fine of 3,000 francs, but he succeeded in getting this verdict set aside on April 21, 1862, and was rehabilitated by the court of Douai. Toward the end of 1869 Mirès was sentenced to six months' imprisonment and fined 3,000 francs on account of his pamphlet "Un Crime Judiciaire," attacking the expert Monginot and the judges who had tried his suit against the firm of Pereire.

He contributed several financial articles to "Le Constitutionnel" and "La Presse," and published a number of pamphlets, including "Aperçus Financiers" (1868) and "Mémoires Judiciaires" (in his own defense).

He was decorated by Napoleon III. with the ribbon of the Legion of Honor in 1860. His daughter married a French nobleman.