Abel Ferry

Abel Ferry grave

Abel Jules Édouard Ferry (26 May 1881 – 15 September 1918) was a French politician.

Ferry was born in Paris, the son of Senator Charles Ferry and nephew of Jules Ferry, Abel continued the family tradition when he was elected in 1909 to represent the Vosges department in the Chamber of Deputies.

Ferry served as Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs from 13 June 1914 to 29 October 1915 in the first and second governments of René Viviani.

Ferry's diaries, published as Carnets secrets 1914-1918, are a valuable source on relations between the French government and its generals during the First World War. Ferry was an early and trenchant critic of army commander Joseph Joffre.

Ferry was a key figure in the Army Commission of the Chamber of Deputies, regularly visiting the armies in the field and reporting back to the Chamber. He was mortally wounded by shellfire while visiting the Aisne front on 8 September 1918 and died a week later.

Bibliography

• (French) La Guerre vue d'en bas et d'en haut, lettres, notes, discours et rapports par Abel Ferry. Grasset, Paris, 1920.
• (French) Carnets secrets 1914–1918. Introduction by Nicholas Offenstadt, edited by André Loez. Grasset, Paris, 2005.

Further reading

• (French) Baumont, Michel, "Abel Ferry et les étapes du Contrôle aux Armées, 1914–1918" in Revue d'Histoire Moderne et Contemporaine, volume XV, January–March 1968, pp. 162–209.