Laurent Bonnevay (28 July 1870,

Saint-Didier-au-Mont-d'Or Saint-Didier-au-Mont-d'Or () is a commune in the Metropolis of Lyon in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in eastern France. The residents of the city are called ''Désidériens''. It is one of the richest communes in the urban area of Lyon. It is al ...

Rhône The Rhône ( , ; wae, Rotten ; frp, Rôno ; oc, Ròse ) is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and southeastern France before discharging into the Mediterranean Sea. At Ar ...

– 28 May 1957) was a French

centrist Centrism is a political outlook or position involving acceptance or support of a balance of social equality and a degree of social hierarchy while opposing political changes that would result in a significant shift of society strongly to Left-w ...

lawyer and politician during the Third and Fourth Republics who was a member first of the

Republican Federation The Republican Federation (french: Fédération républicaine, FR) was the largest conservative party during the French Third Republic, gathering together the progressive Orléanists rallied to the Republic. Founded in November 1903, the party ...

and then of the

Democratic Republican Alliance The Democratic Alliance (french: Alliance démocratique, AD), originally called Democratic Republican Alliance (, ARD), was a French political party created in 1901 by followers of Léon Gambetta such as Raymond Poincaré, who would be presiden ...

centre-right groups.

Life

He was one of the few non-communists to refuse the

Munich agreement The Munich Agreement ( cs, Mnichovská dohoda; sk, Mníchovská dohoda; german: Münchner Abkommen) was an agreement concluded at Munich on 30 September 1938, by Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy. It provided "cession to Germany ...

of 1938, along with some militants from

Action Française Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

. He was notably Garde des Sceaux in

Aristide Briand Aristide Pierre Henri Briand (; 28 March 18627 March 1932) was a French statesman who served eleven terms as Prime Minister of France during the French Third Republic. He is mainly remembered for his focus on international issues and reconciliat ...

's government (January 16, 1921 - January 15, 1922) and president of the investigative commission from February 6, 1934. He was one of '

The Vichy 80 The Eighty (''Les Quatre-Vingts'') were a group of elected French parliamentarians who, on 10 July 1940, voted against the constitutional change that effectively dissolved the Third Republic and established the authoritarian regime of Philippe P� ...

' who refused to vote full powers to 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 ...

in 1940. Although born in

in his mother's family home and with a father originating from the canton of Lamure-sur-Azergues (where he built his political career), his wife's family had a house in

Dardilly Dardilly (; frp, Dardelyé) is a commune in the Metropolis of Lyon in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in eastern France. Its inhabitants are called ''Dardillois'' in French. Geography An undulating town to in the western lyonnais, Dardilly is cro ...

in which he frequently stayed (including the whole of the

Second World War 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 opposi ...

Posts

*Municipal councillor of

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...

(1900–1904). * Conseiller général of the canton of Lamure (1902–1940 and 1945–1957). *President of the

conseil général The departmental councils ( French: ''conseils départementaux''; singular, ''conseil départemental'') of France are representative assemblies elected by universal suffrage in 98 of the country's 101 departments. Prior to the 2015 French de ...

of the

(1934–1940 and 1951–1957). * Député for the second district (

circonscription An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polity ...

) of Villefranche (1902–1924 and 1928–1941). * Senator for the

(1924–1928). *Member of the Assemblée Constituante Provisoire ( Provisional Constituting Assembly) (1944–1945).

References

Sources