Henri Carette (25 January 1846 – 23 June 1911 in Paris) was a French politician. He was a member of the general council of the department of Nord and the first socialist mayor of Roubaix.
Carette was the son of a weaver and was himself a weaver at the beginning of his working life,Michel Hastings, Halluin la rouge 1919-1939, 1991, Presses Universitaires du Septentrion, 440 p., p. 138 before becoming a café proprietor () and newspaper seller.Urbain Guérin, in Revue du monde catholique, 1893, A. Vromant & Cie, tome CXIII, 574 p., p. 326: "C'est Roubaix qui est la citadelle du socialisme dans notre département; disons tout de suite qu'il y est organisé d'une manière formidable. Un chef prudent, relativement modéré, calme, intelligent, convaincu, tenace, et, pour toutes ces qualités, respecté et obéi, même parles plus violents, c'est Henri Carette, cabaretier, marchand de journaux et maire d'une des plus grandes villes de France." He was a collectivistRémi Lefebvre: "Le conseil des buveurs de bière de Roubaix (1892-1902). Subversion et apprentissage des règles du jeu institutionnel". In: Politix. Vol. 14, No. 53. Premier trimestre 2001, pp. 93-94 and a member of the French Workers' Party (), of which he managed the press organ Le Forçat. He organised the party's local section in the Alma district of Roubaix, near his caféYannick Marec (dir.), Villes en crise? Les politiques municipales face aux pathologies urbaines (fin XVIIIe-début XXe siècle), Créaphis, 2008, p. 696 He served as conseiller général of the Nord department from 1892 to 1895 and as the first socialist mayor of Roubaix from 15 May 1892 to 17 December 1901.Bertrand Beyern, Guide des tombes d'hommes célèbres, 2011, Le Cherche midi, 3857 p., p. 121 He was buried in Roubaix, where his tomb bears as an inscription the opening words of the Internationale: "Debout, les damnés de la terre".Bibliothèque numérique de Roubaix: stele of Henri Carette
References
Further reading Le Maitron (dictionnaire biographique): Carette, Henri Joseph, by Justinien Raymond (2010)