Monsignor Darboy

Monsignor Georges Darboy (1813-1871), from January 1863 the Archbishop of Paris, was executed at the prison of La Roquette on 25 May 1871, a notorious incident that took place during the Semaine Sanglante [Bloody Week] at the end of the Paris Commune.

Monsignor Darboy was arrested by the Communards on 4 April 1871 and held as a hostage, at first in the prison at Mazas. He was a later transferred to La Roquette when the army of Versailles advanced on Paris. The intention was to exchange him for Louis Auguste Blanqui. The American ambassador, Elihu B. Washburne, acted as intermediary in the negotiations. When the proposal was coldly rejected by Thiers, Monsignor Darboy, along with several others, was executed.

Photographer unidentified.