Joseph Capus
French politician (1867–1947)

Joseph Marie Capus (French: [kapy]; 18 August 1867 – 1 May 1947) was a French agriculturalist and expert on grape vines. He became a deputy in the French national parliament, and was Minister of Agriculture for a few months in 1924. He was active in legislation related to agriculture and was the driving force behind introduction of the Appellation d'origine contrôlée for French wines.
Early years
Joseph Marie Capus was born on 18 August 1867 in Marseille.
His father was a lawyer in Marseille and his mother, who died while he was a child, was the daughter of a notary from Vaucluse.
His brother Alfred Capus, ten years his senior, was a writer who became editor of Le Figaro.
Capus studied at the Lycée Condorcet in Marseille, the École de Grignon, the École Pratique d'Ondes and the École Pratique de Cézany. He became a professor of agriculture at Cadillac, Gironde. He was appointed director of the Cadillac station of plant diseases from 1900, and in 1915 became director of the agricultural station of the Gironde.
Capus undertook important studies on diseases of the vine, particularly black-rot and mildew.
“Joseph Capus” enters the record as french politician (1867–1947). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Joseph, Capus and French can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Joseph Capus” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Joseph, Capus and French provides the most credible route into that argument.
Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 2, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2405409. VIAF identifies the subject as 173698131. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1867, 1947, 1924 and 1900.
Later biographies can compress uncertainty and repeat inherited reputations, so apparently settled claims may still require comparison. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.
- Establishing names and roles
- Building a first chronology
- Locating cited institutions
Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Joseph Capus”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Joseph Capus primary sources, Joseph Capus archive and Joseph research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Joseph Capus”?
- Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
- Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Joseph Capus” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.