Adrien Tixier (31 January 1893 in

Folles Folles (; oc, Faulas) is a commune in the Haute-Vienne department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in west-central France. See also *Communes of the Haute-Vienne department The following is a list of the 195 communes of the Haute-Vienne dep ...

( Haute-Vienne) – 18 February 1946 in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

) was a French

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

and diplomat who was the Free French ambassador to the United States.

Career

He was the son of Pierre-Edouard Tixier, a blacksmith, and Marie-Françoise Derosier. Destined for a career in education, he studied at the ''école normale'' (teachers' college) at

Châteauroux Châteauroux (; ; oc, Chasteurós) is the capital city of the French department of Indre, central France and the second-largest town in the province of Berry, after Bourges. Its residents are called ''Castelroussins'' () in French. Climate ...

and became a teacher of technical subjects. In August 1914, he was enlisted as a reserve officer and served in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Shortly after being called up, he was wounded in the Ardennes and underwent the amputation of his left arm. He returned to his teaching career in August 1915 and became a senior teacher at the École supérieure professionnelle in the town of

Albi Albi (; oc, Albi ) is a commune in southern France. It is the prefecture of the Tarn department, on the river Tarn, 85 km northeast of Toulouse. Its inhabitants are called ''Albigensians'' (french: Albigeois, Albigeoise(s), oc, albig ...

. Active in the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of t ...

, he met Albert Thomas and held from 1920 various offices within the

International Labour Office The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is the first and ol ...

Geneva , neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier , website = https://www.geneve.ch/ Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevr ...

, including that of CEO in 1936. On 20 June 1940, with Professor Edgard Milhaud, and Jean-Amédée Weber, he sent a telegram to Marshal Pétain in protest of the request for an armistice and asked for the continuation of the war alongside the British. Using with false papers, he sailed for the United States, via Spain and Portugal, as representative of the International Labour Office. He joined

General de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (; ; (commonly abbreviated as CDG) 22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French army officer and statesman who led Free France against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government ...

, who charged him in November 1941 of representing the

Free France Free France (french: France Libre) was a political entity that claimed to be the legitimate government of France following the dissolution of the Third Republic. Led by French general , Free France was established as a government-in-exile ...

in Washington, where he was appreciated by the Franklin Roosevelt administration. He served in the

French Committee of National Liberation The French Committee of National Liberation (french: Comité français de Libération nationale) was a provisional government of Free France formed by the French generals Henri Giraud and Charles de Gaulle to provide united leadership, organi ...

of Algeria the position of Commissioner of Labor and Social Welfare from 7 June 1943 to 9 November 1943 and Social Affairs from 9 November 1943 to 9 September 1944. He became the first Minister of Social Affairs. He was appointed interior minister in September 1944 in the Provisional Government of France, led by General de Gaulle, and held the post until January 1946. His task was to restore the republican legality in the disorganised France. He was a co-signer of the Ordinance of 4 October 1945, which established Social Security. He founded the Department of the Interior, the Directorate of Territorial Surveillance (DST) and the Republican Security Companies (CRS). He supported de Gaulle, along with

Robert Lacoste Robert Lacoste (5 July 1898 – 8 March 1989) was a French politician. He was a socialist MP of the Dordogne from 1945 to 1958, and from 1962 to 1967. He then served as senator from 1971 to 1980. Biography Robert Lacoste was born at Azera ...

, the Minister of Production, during his visit to

Oradour-sur-Glane Oradour-sur-Glane (; oc, Orador de Glana) was a commune in the Haute-Vienne department, New Aquitaine, west central France, as well as the name of the main village within the commune. History The original village was destroyed on 10 June 194 ...

on 5 March 1945. He was then elected in September 1945, to the General Council from

Bessines-sur-Gartempe Bessines-sur-Gartempe (, literally ''Bessines on Gartempe''; Limousin: ''Becinas'') is a commune in the Haute-Vienne department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in western France. Geography The river Semme forms part of the commune's north-east ...

, and in October 1945, he became a socialist member of the Haute-Vienne in the First National Constituent Assembly. He chaired the General Council of Haute-Vienne. He was buried in Folles.

References

External links

Colloque Adrien Tixier 3–4 mars 2009
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tixier, Adrien 1893 births 1946 deaths People from Haute-Vienne Politicians from Nouvelle-Aquitaine French Section of the Workers' International politicians French interior ministers Members of the Constituent Assembly of France (1945) French military personnel of World War I French expatriates in the United States