Antoine Pinay

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Antoine Pinay bigraphy, stories - Ministers

Antoine Pinay : biography

30 December 1891 – 13 December 1994

Antoine Pinay ( 30 December 1891, Saint-Symphorien-sur-Coise, Rhône – 13 December 1994, Saint-Chamond, Loire) was a French conservative politician. He served as Prime Minister of France in 1952.

Life

As a young man, Pinay fought in World War I and injured his arm so that it was paralyzed for the rest of his life.

After the war, he managed a small business and in 1929 he was elected mayor of Saint-Chamond (Loire). 14 December 1994

He was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 1936, running as an independent candidate opposed to the Popular Front. In 1938 he was elected to the Senate, where he joined the Independent Radicals. On 10 July 1940 he voted to give the Cabinet predided by Marshal Philippe Pétain authority to draw up u new constitution, effectively ending the French Third Republic and establishing Vichy France. In 1941, Antoine Pinay was appointed to the Conseil National of the Vichy Regime. He was also awarded the Order of the Francisque. L’Humanité, 14 December 1994 During the Occupation, Antoine Pinay remained mayor of Saint-Chamond, although he had been urged by General Georges to move to Algiers, in order to better protect the residents of this city. Yet, trying to associate him with Vichy is inappropriate : he resigned from the Conseil National within a few months and refused any official position with the Vichy regime, such as the préfecture de l’Hérault offered by Laval. Besides, he gave several hundreds of identity papers to help Jews and Résistance members flee from France to Algiers or Switzerland. An official commission in 1946 recognized his long lasting opposition to the Nazis and the help he gave to the Résistance and let him totally free of any charge.

He helped create a conservative party, the National Center of Independents and Peasants (CNIP). He acquired the reputation as one of France’s more spirited politicians and in 1952 became Prime Minister in 1952 by virtue of being the most popular elected CNIP official. His ministry was seen as the return of the "classical right", discredited since the Liberation. He stabilized the finances of the French nation and the French currency.

In 1955, he was one of the participants of the Messina Conference, which would lead to the Treaty of Rome in 1957.

During the May 1958 crisis precipitated by the Algerian war, he supported Charles de Gaulle’s return to power and approved of the Fifth Republic’s constitution. He served as Finance Minister until 1960. In 1973, he was made "Médiateur de la République" (Ombudsman) by President Georges Pompidou., 19 Feb. 1973.

Having died at age of 102, he is the third longest lived national head of government or head of state in history, behind only Chau Sen Cocsal Chhum and Celâl Bayar.

Pinay’s Ministry, 8 March 1952 – 8 January 1953

  • Antoine Pinay – President of the Council and Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs
  • Henri Queuille – Vice President of the Council
  • Robert Schuman – Minister of Foreign Affairs
  • René Pleven – Minister of National Defense
  • Charles Brune – Minister of the Interior
  • Jean-Marie Louvel – Minister of Commerce and Energy
  • Pierre Garet – Minister of Labour and Social Security
  • Léon Martinaud-Deplat – Minister of Justice
  • Pierre-Olivier Lapie – Minister of National Education
  • Emmanuel Temple – Minister of Veterans and War Victims
  • Camille Laurens – Minister of Agriculture
  • Pierre Pflimlin – Minister of Overseas France
  • André Morice – Minister of Public Works, Transport, and Tourism
  • Paul Ribeyre – Minister of Public Health and Population
  • Eugène Claudius-Petit – Minister of Reconstruction and Town Planning
  • Roger Duchet – Minister of Posts
  • Jean Letourneau – Minister of Relations with Partner States

Changes

  • 11 August 1952 – André Marie succeeds Lapie as Minister of National Education.

Category:1891 births Category:1994 deaths Category:People from Rhône (department) Category:Politicians from Rhône-Alpes Category:Independent Radical politicians Category:National Centre of Independents and Peasants politicians Category:Prime Ministers of France Category:French Ministers of Finance Category:French Foreign Ministers Category:Transport ministers of France Category:Members of the Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Category:French Senators of the Third Republic Category:Members of the Constituent Assembly of France (1946) Category:Members of the National Assembly of the French Fourth Republic Category:French military personnel of World War I Category:French people of the Algerian War Category:Politicians with physical disabilities Category:French centenarians Category:Order of the Francisque recipients