French journalist, born in the Island of Reunion on the 28th of May 1835. In 1854 he entered the normal school, but he sent in his resignation shortly afterward, in order that he might devote his undivided attention to journalism. He was connected with several journals until 1867, when, after the publication of the imperial letter of January 19, 1867, inaugurating a new system for the press, Hervé established, in conjunction with M. Jean Jacques Weiss, the Journal de Paris, which became noted for its persistent attacks on the imperial régime. At the general election of May 1869, Hervé came forward in the circonscription of Arras, as the candidate of the Liberal opposition, under the patronage of Thiers, but he was defeated at the poll by the official candidate, Sens. Weiss having retired from the strife of political journalism on being nominated general secretary of the Ministry of Fine Arts, Hervé remained sole editor of the Journal de Paris, and on February 5, 1873, started the Soleil. After the visit of the Comte de Paris to Frohsdorff, which preceded the attempt to re-establish the ancient monarchy, Hervé proclaimed loudly “the reconciliation of the House of France,” and engaged, with reference to this subject, in an animated controversy with Edmond About, the editor of the Dix-Neuvième Siècle. This dispute ended in a duel, in which About was slightly wounded. After the proclamation of the Septennate, Hervé supported the policy of the Broglie, Cissy and Buffet cabinets. On April 28, 1876, the Journal de Paris was discontinued, and he remained editor of the Soleil. He published A Page of Contemporaneous History (1869), and a History of the Irish Crisis (1885).
