René Bérenger

René Bérenger, born in Bourg-lès-Valence (Drôme) on 22 April 1830 and died Alincourt (Ardennes) on 29 August 1915, was a French lawyer, judge, and politician. Life He was the son of Alphonse-Marie-Marcellin-Thomas Bérenger, and followed his father into the legal profession. At the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, he was Avocat général of Lyon but resigned to enlist as a volunteer. He was wounded at Nuits on 28 December and was later awarded the Legion of Honour.

Returned to the National Assembly by the département of Drôme as a member of the Centre gauche parliamentary group, he was for a few days in 1873 minister of public works under Jules Armand Dufaure. He then was made a Senator for life, and was vice president of the French Senate from 1894 to 1897.