Portrait of Sadi Carnot

Sadi Carnot (1837-1894) was a French statesman, elected President of the French Republic in 1887.
This moderate republican had to deal with the rise of anti-parliamentarianism, anarchist attacks, the Panama scandal, ministerial instability and the electoral successes of the “boulangisme” populist movement.
His term of office also saw the organization of the centenary of the French Revolution (of which Sadi’s grandfather Lazare Carnot had been a leading figure) and the 1889 Paris World’s Fair, where the Eiffel Tower was built.
He died tragically in Lyon during an official visit, stabbed by an Italian anarchist. He is now laid to rest at the Pantheon in Paris.