Rue Amiral Ribourt

Amédée Louis Ribourt, born in Châteauroux on October 8th 1821, died in Dijon on February 22nd 1893. He entered the Navy in 1837. After many battles around the world, he was appointed member of the permanent commission for the control and revision of armament regulations on the 1st January 1869. In 1870, he took part in the Franco-Prussian war as commander of the Jeanne d'Arc in the Baltic. In October, he commanded the defence lines of Carentan, preventing access to the Cotentin region. He was promoted to rear-admiral on the 4th June 1871. In October, he was transferred as major general of the 4th maritime district to Rochefort (Charente-Maritime). In April 1874, he went to New Caledonia to investigate the escape of Henri Rochefort, condemned by the Commune. In February 1875, he commanded the South Atlantic division, and his flag was hoisted on the Venus. He became vice-admiral on 1 December 1877. In March 1879, he was appointed prefect of the 1st maritime region, in Cherbourg. His attitude quickly earned him the label of "anti-republican", which earned him the enmity of the population and the civil authorities. In August 1880, Mayor Albert Mahieu and the entire town council went so far as to demand his departure, putting their resignation on the line. The moment was all the more delicate as the President of the Republic, Jules Grévy, was due to make an official visit to the town from the 8th to the 11th. Finally, the municipality postponed its resignation, then resumed it after the intervention of Léon Gambetta, president of the Chamber of Deputies, who was very popular locally. The maritime prefect was transferred in October: he was appointed member of the Admiralty Council on 8 October 1880 and became vice-president in May 1885, then president of the shipwreck commission. Admiral Ribourt left active service in October 1886.