Charles Arsène MARIZY was born in Villers-aux-Bois, a commune in the Marne department in north-eastern France, on Wednesday, 23rd July 1873, the first son of Charles Arsène Victor MARIZY and Lucie Louise Marguerite BROQUART.

Charles Arséne MARIZY was born on Wednesday, 23rd July 1873, in Villers-aux Bois, Marne, the firstborn of Charles Arséne Victor Marizy, a blacksmith (the future Mayor of Villers-aux Bois) and Lucie Louise BROQUART. Two years later, Charles also had a brother Victor Arséne, born at midday on 30th June 1875 to Charles snr and Lucie.  

Charles was just eight years old when his mother died. Seven months later, his widowed father married Adéle BRICE. Shortly after the birth of his stepsister Lucie his father became Mayor of Villers-aux Bois, a post he held for 38 years.

Charles was 14 when the last of his siblings, a stepbrother Eugéne, was born. 

Charles went on to study at the École Nationale Supérieure d’arts et Métiers de Châlons-sur Marne, located 40 kilometres from his home in the old Royal Artillery School building on what is now the Place de l’École des Arts in Châlons en Champagne.

Upon graduation as a designer at 18, Charles Arséne MARIZY was living in the village of his birth, Villiers-aux-Bois.

He registered voluntarily for Military Service in 1891. On 8th November 1892, he officially registered at the town hall of Châlons for three years of service in the 25e régiment d’artillerie de campagne

In 1893 – he moved to Châlons-sur-Marne.¹

Charles Arséne MARIZY (27) was an engineer who had been living and working in Shcherbynivka, a small village in Eastern Ukraine, when he returned to France on 16th August 1900 and married Eugénie Pauline GIRARD.

The ceremony took place at 11 am in Chamelet and was presided over by the Mayor, Gaspard BROSSETTE.

Eugénie GIRARD (22) was a teacher living in Digoin, Saône-et-Loire department. She was born in Chamelet, the oldest daughter of Jean Antoine GIRARD and Claudine MAILLET, who were Hoteliers 

Charles Arséne MARIZY (18) registered voluntarily for Military Service in 1891. On 8 Nov 1892, he went to the Town Hall at Châlons, where he was officially enrolled for three years of service in the 25e régiment d’artillerie de campagne.

By 5 Oct the following year, he was living in the camp for the 25e régiment d’artillerie in Châlons-sur-Marne.¹ He was continuing his studies to become a civil engineer. As part of his obligation to military service, he completed a period of exercises with the 28e régiment d’artillerie during late September and October 1895, the conclusion of which he moved officially to the status of an army reservist.

Sometime between the conclusion of the exercises and 23 May 1896, MARIZY commenced work as a Civil Engineer on a project in  Shcherbynivka Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine.

He married in Chamelet on 16 Aug 1900 and, together with his wife, Eugénie Pauline GIRARD, moved back to Ukraine where his son Charles Henri was born on 23 Jul 1902 in Oblast de Donetsk, UKRAINE and on 17 Feb 1908, a daughter, Rose-Aimée in Shcherbinovka ²

Charles Arséne MARIZY was elected to the Conseil Municipal of Chamelet in the Municipal Elections that took place across France on 5 May 1935.

He attended his first meeting on 19 May, where he stood for the post of Mayor, running against Jean Joseph THOLIN.

All 12 councillors were present, and 11 voted for THOLIN; however, MARIZY was elected Adjoint when standing against Joannes BOUILLARD; MARIZY received 11 votes.

However, Mayor THOLIN died of natural causes at his home in Chamelet at 14:00 on 25 March 1943.

On 12th April 1943, the Deputy Prefect of the Rhône, M. Jean DISSARD, using Vichy Law, wrote to the Sub-Prefect of Villefranche accepting his recommendation that Charles MARIZY be charged with the duties of Mayor of Chamelet. He asks the Sub-Prefect to make the necessary arrangements for this.

MARIZY thus became the new Mayor from this date. There is, however, no record of the official meeting of the Municipal Council during his period as Mayor.

However, on 8 June 1943, Charles Arsène MARIZY, who had only been Mayor of Chamelet for 57 days, sent a resignation letter to the Sous Préfet.
At this time, MARIZY’s health was deteriorating, and one consequence of this was that during the time that he held his office, there had been no meetings of the Conseil Municipal to discuss issues within the commune or even to elect a deputy. Without a Deputy in place, there would be no obvious successor. Ironically, the only Conseil Municipal meeting that Marizy presided over was on 7 July 1943 to install his successor, Sébastien Jean Marie SONNERY, as per the directive from the Préfet in Lyon.
MARIZY, in his resignation letter, cited his poor health as the reason for his decision. Whilst it was within the power of the Prefect of the Rhône to refuse to accept the resignation, he didn’t, and by agreeing to his standing down, the search for a successor began.

Some suggest that MARIZY saw his elevation to Mayor at this, of all times, as a poison chalice. In 1935, he had aspired to the post but, in standing for it, had lost out in the election for Mayor to THOLIN. However, in the Spring of 1943, he got his wish, but the whole political landscape had since changed, and he was not a well man.

Mayor Marizy had connections to pre-revolutionary Russia, his children were born in Ukraine, and that, coupled with less than four months earlier, the German Forces had suffered a humiliating defeat on the Russian Front… Well, he could be forgiven for thinking that his very presence as Mayor could have attracted the unwarranted attention of the occupying forces.

Citing poor health was not a choice but a fact. Whilst the evidence suggests that MARIZY may have been concerned about his connections with Russia, he was not in the best of health to hold the office when now, of all times, the community needed a strong – and healthy – figurehead. Charles MARIZY and his family lived next door to Albert LAFAY’s bakery; his son Antoine would tell you that, after standing down as Mayor whilst his wife and children were often seen, Charles MARIZY rarely ventured out of the house.

Meetings of the Conseil Municipal resumed after his resignation, and Charles MARIZY continued to attend most of the sessions. His last mention was in the minutes of the Conseil Municipal on 31 December 1944 that documented those members who were absent; Jean Marie SONNERY is mentioned with a note « Marie deporté en Allemagne ». Next to the name MARIZY, it states, « excuses pour maladie ».

Charles Arséne MARIZY died four years after resigning as Mayor, on Wednesday, 2nd April 1947, at age 74 years. He is buried in the cemetery at Chamelet.