MacMahon, Maurice de (1808-1893), was president of France from 1873 to 1879 and a distinguished soldier. He favored the restoration of the French monarchy but failed to accomplish it. Marie Edme Patrice Maurice de MacMahon was born on July 13, 1808, at Sully, in northern France, of Irish descent. He won fame during the Crimean War (1853-1856) for his declaration at the taking of the Malakov Redoubt: “J’y suis, j’y reste” (“Here I am, here I stay”), and was made a marshal of France. In 1859, he was made Duke of Magenta. He was defeated and captured during the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871). He died on Oct. 16, 1893. See Franco-Prussian War .
