Edgar Jean Faure (; 18 August 1908 – 30 March 1988) 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, ...

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solicit ...

essayist An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal ...

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

and memoirist who served as

Prime Minister of France The prime minister of France (french: link=no, Premier ministre français), officially the prime minister of the French Republic, is the head of government of the French Republic and the leader of the Council of Ministers. The prime minister i ...

in 1952 and again between 1955 and 1956.Edgar Faure
. Encyclopædia Britannica Prior to his election to the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the r ...

for Jura under the Fourth Republic in

1946 Events January * January 6 - The first general election ever in Vietnam is held. * January 7 – The Allies recognize the Austrian republic with its 1937 borders, and divide the country into four occupation zones. * January 10 ** The ...

, he was a member of 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, orga ...

(CFLN) in

Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques d ...

(1943–1944). A

Radical Radical may refer to: Politics and ideology Politics * Radical politics, the political intent of fundamental societal change *Radicalism (historical), the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe an ...

, Faure was married to writer Lucie Meyer. In 1978, he was elected to the

Académie Française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosop ...

Life

Faure was born in

Béziers Béziers (; oc, Besièrs) is a subprefecture of the Hérault department in the Occitanie region of Southern France. Every August Béziers hosts the famous ''Feria de Béziers'', which is centred on bullfighting. A million visitors are attra ...

Hérault Hérault (; oc, Erau, ) is a department of the region of Occitania, Southern France. Named after the Hérault River, its prefecture is Montpellier. It had a population of 1,175,623 in 2019.baccalauréat The ''baccalauréat'' (; ), often known in France colloquially as the ''bac'', is a French national academic qualification that students can obtain at the completion of their secondary education (at the end of the ''lycée'') by meeting certain ...

at 15, as well as a law degree at 19 in Paris. At 21 years of age he became a member of the

bar association A bar association is a professional association of lawyers as generally organized in countries following the Anglo-American types of jurisprudence. The word bar is derived from the old English/European custom of using a physical railing to se ...

, the youngest lawyer in France to do so at the time. While living in Paris, he became active in Third Republic politics; he joined the Radical Party in 1929. Faure1939 (cropped)

During the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

occupation of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, he joined the

French Resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...

in the

Maquis Maquis may refer to: Resistance groups * Maquis (World War II), predominantly rural guerrilla bands of the French Resistance * Spanish Maquis, guerrillas who fought against Francoist Spain in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War * The netwo ...

. In 1942, he fled to

Charles 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 Governm ...

's headquarters in

, where he was made head of the Provisional Government of the Republic's legislative department. At the end of the war, he served as French counsel for the prosecution at the

Nuremberg Trials The Nuremberg trials were held by the Allies of World War II, Allies against representatives of the defeated Nazi Germany, for plotting and carrying out invasions of other countries, and other crimes, in World War II. Between 1939 and 1945 ...

. In 1946, he was elected to the

French Parliament The French Parliament (french: Parlement français) is the bicameral legislature of the French Republic, consisting of the Senate () and the National Assembly (). Each assembly conducts legislative sessions at separate locations in Paris ...

as a Radical. While the popularity of his party declined to less than 10% of the total vote, none of the other parties was able to gain a clear majority. Therefore, early on, his party often played a disproportionately important role in the formation of governments. He thus led the cabinet in 1952 and from 1955 to 1956. Faure was a leader of the more conservative wing of the party, opposing the party's

left Left may refer to: Music * ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006 * ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016 * "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album '' Curb'', 1996 Direction * Left (direction), the relative direction opposite of right * ...

, under

Pierre Mendès France Pierre Isaac Isidore Mendès France (; 11 January 190718 October 1982) was a French politician who served as prime minister of France for eight months from 1954 to 1955. As a member of the Radical Party, he headed a government supported by a co ...

. Faure's views changed during the Fourth Republic; after initial opposition to the Fifth Republic (he voted against presidential election by universal suffrage in the 1962 referendum), he eventually became a

Gaullist Gaullism (french: link=no, Gaullisme) is a French political stance based on the thought and action of World War II French Resistance leader Charles de Gaulle, who would become the founding President of the Fifth French Republic. De Gaulle with ...

. The Gaullist Party, the

Union for the New Republic The Union for the New Republic (french: L'Union pour la nouvelle République, UNR), was a French political party founded on 1 October 1958 that supported Prime Minister Charles de Gaulle in the 1958 elections. History The UNR won 206 of 579 s ...

, sent him on an unofficial mission to the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

in 1963. In government he served in successive ministries: Agriculture (1966–1968), National Education (1968–1969, where he was responsible for pushing through reform of the universities) and Social Affairs (1972–1973). He declined to be a candidate at the 1974 presidential election, in which he supported

Valéry Giscard d'Estaing Valéry René Marie Georges Giscard d'Estaing (, , ; 2 February 19262 December 2020), also known as Giscard or VGE, was a French politician who served as President of France from 1974 to 1981. After serving as Minister of Finance under prime ...

against the Gaullist candidate,

Jacques Chaban-Delmas Jacques Chaban-Delmas (; 7 March 1915 – 10 November 2000) was a French Gaullist politician. He served as Prime Minister under Georges Pompidou from 1969 to 1972. He was the Mayor of Bordeaux from 1947 to 1995 and a deputy for the Gironde '' ...

. He had the reputation of a careerist and the nickname of "weathercock". He replied with humour, "it is not the weathercock which turns; it is the wind!" He was a member of the

for the Jura department from 1946 to 1958, as well as for the

Doubs Doubs (, ; ; frp, Dubs) is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in Eastern France. Named after the river Doubs, it had a population of 543,974 in 2019.Académie Française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosop ...

. On the regional, departmental and local levels, Edgar Faure was Mayor of Port-Lesney, Jura from 1947 to 1971 and again from 1983 to 1988, as well as Mayor of

Pontarlier Pontarlier ( ; Latin: ''Ariolica'') is a commune and one of the two sub-prefectures of the Doubs department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France near the Swiss border. History Pontarlier occupies the ancient Roman station o ...

between 1971 and 1977; he served as President of the General Council of the Jura department from 1949 to 1967, then member of the General Council of the Doubs from 1967 to 1979, President of the Regional Council of

Franche-Comté Franche-Comté (, ; ; Frainc-Comtou: ''Fraintche-Comtè''; frp, Franche-Comtât; also german: Freigrafschaft; es, Franco Condado; all ) is a cultural and historical region of eastern France. It is composed of the modern departments of Doubs, ...

(1974–1981, 1982–1988). He played a key role during the creation and first years of the

Assembly of European Regions The Assembly of European Regions (AER) is the largest independent network of regions in wider Europe. Bringing together regions from 35 countries and 15 interregional organisations, AER is a forum for interregional cooperation. Histori ...

(AER), becoming his first president in 1985 and staying in that position until 1988. He was buried at the Cimetière de Passy, Paris, where his wife Lucie Meyer was buried following her death in 1977.

Personal life

In 1931, Faure married writer Lucie Meyer, a daughter of a silk merchant. They spent their one-month-long honeymoon in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

.Foreign News: FRANCE'S NEW PREMIER
. ''Time''. 7 March 1955

Political career

Governmental functions *President of the Council (Prime Minister): January–February 1952 / February–December 1955 *Secretary of State for Finance: 1949–1950 *Minister of the Budget: 1950–1951 *Minister of Justice: 1951–1952 *Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs: 1953–1955 *Minister of Foreign Affairs: January–February 1955 *Minister of Finance, Economic Affairs and Planning: May–June 1958 *Minister of Agriculture: 1966–1968 *Minister of National Education: 1968–1969 *Minister of State, Minister of Social Affairs: 1972–1973 Electoral mandates *President of the

National Assembly of France The National Assembly (french: link=no, italics=set, Assemblée nationale; ) is the lower house of the bicameral French Parliament under the Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are know ...

: 1973–1978 *Member of the

for

Doubs Doubs (, ; ; frp, Dubs) is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in Eastern France. Named after the river Doubs, it had a population of 543,974 in 2019.National Assembly of France The National Assembly (french: link=no, italics=set, Assemblée nationale; ) is the lower house of the bicameral French Parliament under the Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are know ...

for Jura: 1946–1958 *Senator for Jura: 1959–1966 (became a cabinet member in 1966) *Senator for

Doubs Doubs (, ; ; frp, Dubs) is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in Eastern France. Named after the river Doubs, it had a population of 543,974 in 2019.Regional Council Regional Council may refer to: * Regional Council (Hong Kong), disbanded in 1999 ** Regional Council (constituency) Regional council may refer to: * Regional council (Cameroon) * Regional council (France), the elected assembly of a region of Fran ...

: 1974–1981 / 1982–1988 (died in 1988) *Mayor of Port-Lesney: 1947–1970 / 1983–1988 (died in 1988) *Mayor of

: 1971–1977 *President of the General Council of Jura: 1949–1967 *General councillor of Jura: 1967–1979

Bibliography

He published the following books: *''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

Governments

First ministry (20 January – 8 March 1952)

*Edgar Faure – President of the Council and Minister of Finance *

Georges Bidault Georges-Augustin Bidault (; 5 October 189927 January 1983) was a French politician. During World War II, he was active in the French Resistance. After the war, he served as foreign minister and prime minister on several occasions. He joined the ...

– Vice President of the Council and Minister of National Defense *

Henri Queuille Henri Queuille (; 31 March 1884 – 15 June 1970) was a French Radical politician prominent in the Third and Fourth Republics. After World War II, he served three times as Prime Minister. Governments First ministry (11 September 1948 – 28 O ...

– Vice President of the Council *

Robert Schuman Jean-Baptiste Nicolas Robert Schuman (; 29 June 18864 September 1963) was a Luxembourg-born French statesman. Schuman was a Christian Democrat ( Popular Republican Movement) political thinker and activist. Twice Prime Minister of France, a re ...

– Minister of Foreign Affairs * Pierre Pflimlin – Minister for the Council of Europe * Maurice Bourgès-Maunoury – Minister of Armaments * Charles Brune – Minister of the Interior * Robert Buron – Minister of Economic Affairs and Information *

Pierre Courant Pierre Courant (12 September 1897, Le Havre, Seine-Maritime – 22 March 1965, Le Havre) was a French politician. He belonged first to the Independent Republicans (1946–1955) and then to the National Centre of Independents and Peasants The ...

– Minister of Budget *

Jean-Marie Louvel Jean-Marie Louvel (1 July 1900 – 13 June 1970) was a French engineer and politician. 1900 births 1970 deaths People from Orne Politicians from Normandy Popular Republican Movement politicians French Ministers of Commerce and I ...

– Minister of Industry and Energy * Paul Bacon – Minister of Labour and Social Security * Léon Martinaud-Deplat – Minister of Justice *

André Morice André Morice (11 October 1900, Nantes – 17 January 1990) was a French politician. He represented the Radical Party in the Constituent Assembly elected in 1945, in the Constituent Assembly elected in 1946 and in the National Assembly from 1946 ...

– Minister of Merchant Marine * Pierre-Olivier Lapie – Minister of National Education * Emmanuel Temple – Minister of Veterans and War Victims * Camille Laurens – Minister of Agriculture * Louis Jacquinot – Minister of Overseas France * Antoine Pinay – Minister of Public Works, Transport, and Tourism *

Paul Ribeyre Paul François Ribeyre (11 December 1906 – 14 January 1988) was a French mineral water bottler and liberal conservative politician who was a deputy in the Constituent Assembly and then the National Assembly from 1945 to 1958, then a senator from ...

– Minister of Public Health and Population *

Eugène Claudius-Petit Eugène Claudius-Petit was a French politician. He participated in many governments under the Fourth Republic and was a proponent of Firminy Vert. He later added his pseudonym from the Resistance, "Claudius", to his name. Early life and care ...

– Minister of Reconstruction and Town Planning *

Roger Duchet Roger Duchet (4 July 1904 – 6 September 1981) was a French veterinarian and politician. He was Minister of PTT from 1951 to 1953, and Minister of Reconstruction from 1955 to 1956. After leaving politics he became involved in film production. Ea ...

– Minister of Posts, Telegraphs, and Telephones * Édouard Bonnefous – Minister of Commerce * Jean Letourneau – Minister of Partner States * Joseph Laniel – Minister of State *

François Mitterrand François Marie Adrien Maurice Mitterrand (26 October 19168 January 1996) was President of France, serving under that position from 1981 to 1995, the longest time in office in the history of France. As First Secretary of the Socialist Party, he ...

– Minister of State

Second ministry (23 February 1955 – 1 February 1956)

*Edgar Faure – President of the Council * Antoine Pinay – Minister of Foreign Affairs *

Pierre Koenig Pierre Francis Koenig (October 17, 1925 – April 4, 2004) was an American architect and a Professor of Architecture at the University of Southern California. He taught at the USC School of Architecture from 1964 until his death in 2004. H ...

– Minister of National Defense and Armed Forces * Maurice Bourgès-Maunoury – Minister of the Interior * Pierre Pflimlin – Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs *

– Minister of Commerce and Industry * Paul Bacon – Minister of Labour and Social Security *

– Minister of Justice *

Paul Antier Paul may refer to: * Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

– Minister of Merchant Marine * Jean Berthoin – Minister of National Education * Raymond Triboulet – Minister of Veterans and War Victims *

Jean Sourbet Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * Je ...

– Minister of Agriculture *

Pierre-Henri Teitgen Pierre-Henri Teitgen (29 May 1908 – 6 April 1997) was a French lawyer, professor and politician.Johnson, Douglas (9 April 1997) ''The Independent''. Retrieved 21 January 2016 Teitgen was born in Rennes, Brittany. Taken POW in 1940, he playe ...

– Minister of Overseas France * Édouard Corniglion-Molinier – Minister of Public Works, Transport, and Tourism *

Bernard Lafay Bernard (''Bernhard'') is a French language, French and West Germanic masculine given name. It is also a surname. The name is attested from at least the 9th century. West Germanic ''Bernhard'' is composed from the two elements ''bern'' "bear" an ...

– Minister of Public Health and Population *

– Minister of Reconstruction and Housing * Édouard Bonnefous – Minister of Posts * Pierre July – Minister of Moroccan and Tunisian Affairs Changes *6 October 1955 –

Pierre Billotte Pierre Armand Gaston Billotte (8 March 1906 – 29 June 1992) was a French Army officer and politician. He was the son of General Gaston Billotte, who commanded parts of the French Army at the start of World War II. Pierre Billotte was himself n ...

succeeds Koenig as Minister of National Defense and Armed Forces. Vincent Badie succeeds Triboulet as Minister of Veterans and War Victims. *20 October 1955 – Pierre July leaves the Cabinet and the office of Minister of Moroccan and Tunisian Affairs is abolished. *1 December 1955 – Edgar Faure succeeds Bourgès-Maunoury as interim Minister of the Interior.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Faure, Edgar 1908 births 1988 deaths People from Béziers Politicians from Occitania (administrative region) Republican-Socialist Party politicians Radical Party (France) politicians Rally of Left Republicans politicians Union of Democrats for the Republic politicians Rally for the Republic politicians Prime Ministers of France French Foreign Ministers French Ministers of Budget French Ministers of Justice French interior ministers French Ministers of National Education French Ministers of Finance French Ministers of Agriculture Presidents of the National Assembly (France) Deputies of the 1st National Assembly of the French Fourth Republic Deputies of the 2nd National Assembly of the French Fourth Republic Deputies of the 3rd National Assembly of the French Fourth Republic Deputies of the 3rd National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 4th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 5th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 6th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic French Senators of the Fifth Republic Senators of Jura (department) Senators of Doubs French memoirists 20th-century French lawyers French male essayists 20th-century French historians 20th-century French essayists 20th-century French male writers French Resistance members French people of the Algerian War Members of the Académie Française Burials at Passy Cemetery 20th-century memoirists