Jean-Baptiste Lebas (; 24 October 1878 – 10 March 1944) was a French Socialist politician, deputy to the National Assembly of France during the Third Republic, who served twice as minister under Léon Blum’s governments. He was mayor of Roubaix and member of the Resistance during

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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

First step in politics

Jean-Baptiste Lebas is the son of Félicité Delattre and Jean-Hippolyte Lebas. He was born at home in a humble house in

Roubaix Roubaix ( or ; nl, Robaais; vls, Roboais) is a city in northern France, located in the Lille metropolitan area on the Belgian border. It is a historically mono-industrial commune in the Nord department, which grew rapidly in the 19th century ...

, an industrial city where his mother was a housekeeper and his father a textile worker. A Republican under the

Second Empire Second Empire may refer to: * Second British Empire, used by some historians to describe the British Empire after 1783 * Second Bulgarian Empire (1185–1396) * Second French Empire (1852–1870) ** Second Empire architecture, an architectural styl ...

and a syndicalist, Jean-Hippolyte Lebas was a

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

who had become member of the Parti Ouvrier Français (POF) at its foundation in 1880. Altogether, it was observable that Jean-Baptiste Lebas had been brought up in a

working class The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colo ...

family and steeped in a

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

milieu in his birth town. In 1896, following his father at the age of eighteen, he joined the POF. In 1900 he wrote under the pen name Jacques Vingtras a brochure premised by

Jules Guesde Jules Bazile, known as Jules Guesde (; 11 November 1845 – 28 July 1922) was a French socialist journalist and politician. Guesde was the inspiration for a famous quotation by Karl Marx. Shortly before Marx died in 1883, he wrote a letter ...

and entitled: ''Socialisme et patriotisme''. He entered a career as accountant for the cooperative society ''La Paix'' in 1901. In 1906 he became assistant secretary for the local branch of the

SFIO The French Section of the Workers' International (french: Section française de l'Internationale ouvrière, SFIO) was a list of political parties in France, political party in France that was founded in 1905 and succeeded in 1969 by the modern-da ...

Mayor of Roubaix

In 1908 Lebas was elected to the municipal council of Roubaix. Then he came to be the

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

of the city in 1912.David Gordon: ''Liberalism and Social Reform: Industrial Growth and Progressiste Politics in France, 1880-1914 (Contributions to the Study of World History)''. Greenwood Press 1996, p. 81 German troops invaded the city of Roubaix at the beginning of

World War I 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 ...

. Lebas refused to grant the German forces the list of inhabitants in the prime of life whom occupiers wanted for compulsory labour. Therefore, he was arrested on 7 March 1915 and imprisoned in the

fortress of Rastatt Rastatt Fortress (german: Bundesfestung Rastatt) was built from 1842 to 1852. The construction of this federal fortress was one of the few projects that the German Confederation was able to complete. The fortress site covered the Baden town of R ...

. After he was released, he has been awarded the Legion of Honour in October 1916 for his courage. Between the two world wars, Lebas developed and implemented a social policy for his city aimed at constructing decent and salubrious housing and providing access to education.Geert Thyssen, Frederik Herman, Walter Kusters, Sarah Van Ruyskensvelde, Marc Depaepe: From popular to unpopular education? The open-air school(s) of «Pont- Rouge», Roubaix (1921-1978) in
History of Education & Children’s Literature (HECL) © 2010
' pp. 199-227

Deputy and minister of the Popular Front government

Lebas was elected deputy for the first time in 1919 alongside Jules Guesde. Afterwards, he was re-elected in 1924, 1932 and 1936. In 1936 he rejoined the first Blum's government as

Minister of Labour Minister of Labour (in British English) or Labor (in American English) is typically a cabinet-level position with portfolio responsibility for setting national labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, traini ...

. Following the Matignon Agreements he introduced a law that granted the first annual leave of two weeks for workers and employees as well as a forty-hour work week.

Resistance

For some undeclared reason, Lebas did not take part to the vote on the

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

al change that established an

authoritarian regime Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political '' status quo'', and reductions in the rule of law, separation of powers, and democratic ...

under the government of Marshal

Philippe Pétain Henri Philippe Benoni Omer Pétain (24 April 1856 – 23 July 1951), commonly known as Philippe Pétain (, ) or Marshal Pétain (french: Maréchal Pétain), was a French general who attained the position of Marshal of France at the end of Worl ...

. On 21 May 1941, as a member of a

resistance movement A resistance movement is an organized effort by some portion of the civil population of a country to withstand the legally established government or an occupying power and to disrupt civil order and stability. It may seek to achieve its objective ...

he was arrested together with his son and his niece by the

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one orga ...

and imprisoned in France before being deported to Germany. He died at the

Sonnenburg concentration camp Sonnenburg concentration camp (german: Konzentrationslager Sonnenburg) was opened on 3 April 1933 in Sonnenburg (now Słońsk in Poland) near Küstrin (Kostrzyn nad Odrą) in a former Neumark prison, on the initiative of the Free State of Prussia M ...

in 1944. After liberation, a large monument was erected by the municipal council to honour one of its most famous mayors in 1949. On 31 August 1951, his body was

repatriated Repatriation is the process of returning a thing or a person to its country of origin or citizenship. The term may refer to non-human entities, such as converting a foreign currency into the currency of one's own country, as well as to the pro ...

to France alongside that of his son and those of six other Roubaisians who died in concentration camps.''Le corps de Jean Lebas celui de son fils Raymond et ceux de six autres Roubaisiens morts dans les camps de concentration sont revenus hier dans leur ville natale'', Jules Delignies, Nord Matin 1951

References

External links

Base de données des députés français depuis 1789

A boulevard and municipal park are named in his honor in the city of Lille, France
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lebas, Jean-Baptiste 1878 births 1944 deaths People from Roubaix Politicians from Hauts-de-France French Section of the Workers' International politicians French Ministers of Labour and Social Affairs French Ministers of Posts, Telegraphs, and Telephones Members of the 12th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Members of the 13th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Members of the 15th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Members of the 16th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic French Resistance members Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur French people who died in Nazi concentration camps People who died in Sonnenburg concentration camp