Edgar Faure

Edgar Faure (August 18, 1908 - March 30, 1988) was a French statesman.

Related Topics:
August 18 - 1908 - March 30 - 1988

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Faure was born in Béziers, Languedoc-Roussillon, France. He trained as a lawyer in Paris and became a member of the Bar at 27, the youngest lawyer in France to do so at the time. While living in Paris, he became active in politics, and joined the Radical Party.

Related Topics:
Béziers - Languedoc-Roussillon - France - Paris - Radical Party

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During the German occupation of World War II, he joined the Resistance, and in 1942 fled to Charles de Gaulle?s headquarters in Algiers, where de Gaulle made him head of the Provisional Government's legislative department. At the end of the war he served as French counsel for the prosecution at the Nuremberg war crimes trials.

Related Topics:
World War II - Resistance - Charles de Gaulle?s - Algiers - Nuremberg

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In 1946, he was elected to parlement as a Radical party member. While the popularity of his Radical party declined to less than 10 per cent of the total vote, none of the other parties were able to gain a clear majority. As such, early on, Faure?s party often played a disproportionately important role in the formation of French governments. Faure was a leader of the more conservative wing of the party, opposing the party's left under Pierre Mendès-France. Faure's views changed with time and he became a supporter of de Gaulle?s party who sent him on an unofficial mission to the People's Republic of China in 1963.

Related Topics:
Pierre Mendès-France - People's Republic of China

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He was a member of the National Assembly for the Jura Department from 1946 to 1958 and for the Doubs Department from 1967 to 1980 when he again became Senator. A radical during the Fourth Republic, he ended as a Gaullist during the Fifth Republic. He was a Senator from 1959 to 1967 for the Jura and again in 1980 for the Doubs.

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On the regional, departemental and local levels, Edgar FAURE was mayor of Port-Lesney (Jura) from 1947 to 1971 et from 1983 to 1988 and mayor of Pontarlier from 1971 to 1977, president of the General Council of the Jura Department from 1949 to 1967, then member of the General Council of the Doubs Department from 1967 to 1979, president of the regional council of the Franche-Comté province from 1974 to 1981 et from 1982 to 1988.

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During his career, Edgar Faure served as:

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• Minister of Finance (1950-51);
• Prime Minister - (1952);
• Foreign Minister - (1955);
• Prime Minister - (1955-56) one of the big four of the Geneva Conference with Eisenhower, Bulganin and Eden;
• Minister of Agriculture - (1966);
• Minister of Education - (1968);
• Minister of Social Affairs - (1969);
• President of the National Assembly (1973-79).

In 1978 he became a Member of the Académie française. He has published the following books:

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• Le serpent et la tortue (les problèmes de la Chine populaire, Juillard, 1957
• La disgrâce de Turgot, Gallimard, 1961
• La capitation de Dioclétien, Sirey 1961
• Prévoir le présent, Gallimard, 1966
• L'éducation nationale et la participation, Plon, 1968
• Philosophie d'une réforme, Plon, 1969
• L'âme du combat, Fayard, 1969
• Ce que je crois, Grasset, 1971
• Pour un nouveau contrat social, Seuil, 1973
• Au-delà du dialogue avec Philippe Sollers, Balland, 1977
• La banqueroute de Law, Gallimard, 1977
• La philosophie de Karl Popper et la société politique d'ouverture, Firmin Didot, 1981
• Pascal: le procès des provinciales, Firmin Didot, 1930
• Le pétrole dans la paix et dans la guerre, Nouvelle revue critique 1938
• Mémoires I, "Avoir toujours raison, c'est un grand tort", Plon, 1982
• Mémoires II, "Si tel doit être mon destin ce soir", Plon, 1984
• Discours prononcé pour la réception de Senghor à l'Académie française, le 29 mars 1984

Edgar Faure was interred in Cimetière de Passy, Paris, France.

Related Topics:
Cimetière de Passy - Paris, France

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Edgar Faure: Faure's First Ministry, 20 January - 8 March 1952 ►