author
Henry Du Pré Labouchere
1831–1912
A sharp-tongued Victorian journalist and politician, he made his name with lively reporting, fearless campaigning, and a talent for stirring debate. His career left a complicated legacy, mixing radical politics and anti-imperial views with the notorious amendment that bears his name.
1 Audiobook
Diary of the Besieged Resident in Paris
by Henry Du Pré Labouchere
About the author
Born in London in 1831, Henry Du Pré Labouchere came from a wealthy Huguenot banking family and first worked in the diplomatic service before moving into journalism and politics. He became widely known for his dispatches from Paris during the siege of 1870–71, which helped build his reputation as a vivid writer and public figure.
Labouchere later served for many years as a Radical member of Parliament and founded Truth, a magazine devoted to exposing fraud and scandal. He was known in public life as a witty, combative speaker who supported causes such as republicanism and opposed imperial adventures, making him a distinctive and often controversial voice in late Victorian Britain.
Today he is remembered both for his energetic career in newspapers and Parliament and for the 1885 Labouchere Amendment, which criminalized sexual acts between men in the United Kingdom. That measure gave his name a lasting place in history, though for reasons far darker than the lively journalism and reforming politics that had also defined his life.