Émile Reinaud

Alfred Émile Reinaud (12 March 1854 – 21 November 1924) was a French lawyer, politician and essayist who served as mayor of Nîmes from 1892 to 1900. Reinaud was also a prominent member of the.

Early life and education
Émile Reinaud was born in Vauvert, in the Gard department.

After a secondary education in Nîmes, Reinaud embraced law studies, first at the University of Montpellier, then at the Paris Law Faculty, where he obtained a PhD in 1879.

Lawyer
From 1879, Reinaud worked as lawyer at the court of appeal of Nîmes. A member of the city's bar association, he was also president of the legal aid bureau.

In 1909, he was elected Nîmes' bâtonnier (head of the bar), and reelected in 1910 and 1911.

French historian Raymond Huard cites him as an example of the strong involvement of Nîmes lawyers within the local political community.

Mayor of Nîmes
In 1891, Reinaud was elected conseiller municipal and vice mayor of Nîmes. The following year, during new municipal elections, Reinaud was elected the city's mayor.

Essayist
In 1886, Reinaud published the first report on France's 1884 law that authorised the existence of labour syndicates. He also wrote a reference biography on French painter Charles Jalabert, for which he received an award from the Académie française.

Académie de Nîmes
In February 1894, Reinaud was elected a member of the, a learned society. He became president of this Académie in 1905 (one-year term), and was later chosen to be its perpetual secretary from 1918.

Personal life
Reinaud married Claire Lombard (1854–1939), a niece to French painter Charles Jalabert, and had three children: Paul, Charlotte, and Hélène. Paul died at 36 from a war injury, while Charlotte died at 10; Hélène was the only one to survive her father.

Prizes

 * Montyon Prize of the Académie française (1904)
 * Gold medal of the Académie de Nîmes (1885)

Other

 * A street in Nîmes is named after Émile Reinaud.

Publications

 * Les Syndicats professionnels : leur rôle historique et économique avant et depuis la reconnaissance légale, la loi du 21 mars 1884, Paris, ed. Guillaumin, 1886.
 * La Jeunesse de Charles Jalabert, Nîmes, ed. Chastanier, 1902.
 * Charles Jalabert : l'homme, l'artiste – d'après sa correspondance, Paris, ed. Hachette, 1903.
 * Aux arènes de Nîmes, 1906.
 * La Fille de Jephté : 2 actes en vers, Nîmes, ed. Chastanier, 1924.
 * Beautés des Causses et Cévennes : poésies régionales, Anduze, ed. Imprimerie du Languedoc, 1958 (posthumous).