Jules Marie Armand de Cuverville was born at
Allineuc, a small village a short distance inland from
Saint-Brieuc in
Brittany. His father was
Louis-Paul de Cuverville who represented
the locality on the monarchist benches in the
National Assembly between 1849 and 1853. Louis-Paul's family was descended from the lords of the manor at
Maucomble in
Normandy, some of whom had been
Squires to French kings. Other kinsmen included sailors and naval officers, such as his grandfather, the Rear Admiral Louis-Hyacinthe Cavelier de Cuverville. Jules Marie attended school at
Saint Sauveur de Redon and the lycée in
Rennes before entering naval college in 1850. He emerged in 1852 and participated at the
Siege of Sevastopol (1854–55), where he was badly wounded. There were further missions in
Africa and in the
Crimea. He served in
Algeria as deputy to
Vice-admiral de Gueydon between 1871 and 1873. He was briefly given command of the
avisos "Kleber" and "Cuvier" before being seconded to the diplomatic service, serving as naval attache at the
French embassy in London during the middle 1870s. He then returned to France, serving aboard the Inferent as a commander with the South Atlantic Naval Division between 1875 and 1879, and promoted to the rank of ship's captain in 1878, taking command of a succession of training ships. He was promoted to the rank of rear admiral in 1888 and appointed a member of the
Admiralty Council. Between 1890 and 1892 he served as head of the North Atlantic Naval division and was involved in the
Pacification of Dahomey. A friend and political ally of
Jacques Piou, he joined the
Popular Liberal Action (political party), becoming one of its most passionate supporters. He was appointed a party vice-president in 1907. Deeply
Catholic and steadfast in his commitment to the
Third Republic, Admiral Count de Cuverville had two principal political priorities: defence of the church and support for the navy. == References ==