Toulouse. 228 years ago, the first mayor in the history of the Pink City was guillotined
By Anthony Assemat
Published on
The history of Toulouse is combined with the instability of its municipal power: 104 mayors have succeeded each other at the head of the Capitole City Hall since the arrival of Joseph de Rigaud as the first mayor of the Pink City in 1790.
An election that marks the end of the Capitouls
If the contemporary period, more stable, has highlighted personalities like Dominique Baudis (from 1983 to 2001) and Jean-Luc Moudenc (from 2004 to 2008 replacing Philippe Douste-Blazy, then from 2014 to 2020, then re-elected until 2026), the history of the first bosses of the Capitol has not been so linear. Far from it, even.
The first to have had the honor of being mayor of Toulouse is Joseph of Rigaudbetween February 28, 1790 and the 1uh August 1792. Of Tarn origin (he was born in Castres), he was a jurist and professor of law at the University of Toulouse. This election then marks the end of the era of the Capitouls at the first light of the French Revolution.
A general council of the commune succeeded the Capitoulat at the beginning of 1790. It was elected for two years by active citizens. 18 members composing it. Don Joseph de Rigaud.
Guillotined on April 20, 1794
Unfortunately, he was caught in the whirlwind of the Revolution and the Terror. Considered a “suspect”, Rigaud was arrested for the first time in April 1793, before being released in June. Then he was arrested a second time, on August 29, 1793, following an arrest warrant issued by the Revolutionary Court of the department of Haute-Garonne. He will end up guillotined on April 20, 1794 in Paris. It was exactly 228 years ago.
Marc Derrey de Belbèze will succeed Joseph de Rigaud on October 23, 1792 (after losing initially in November 1791), after a vacancy in municipal power between the 1uh August and October 22. But the latter will suffer the same fate as Joseph de Rigaud, struck down by the blade of the guillotine.
The first mayor to have left a mark was Baron Philippe Picot de Lapeyrousemayor between 1800 and 1806. It was under his mandate that a medical school and the Natural History Museum were founded.
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