Louis Loucheur (12 August 1872 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 ...

, Nord – 22 November 1931 in Paris) was a French politician in the Third Republic, at first a member of the conservative Republican Federation, 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 ...

and of the Independent Radicals. Harold Nicolson, in "Curzon The Last Phase 1919-1921," wrote, in his biographical footnote on Loucheur, "one of the most reasonable and intelligent of French post-war experts; not a politician."

Life

Coming from a background in the

arms industry The arms industry, also known as the arms trade, is a global industry classification, industry which manufacturing, manufactures and sells weapons and military technology. It consists of a commerce, commercial Private industry, industry involved ...

, Loucheur became Minister of Armaments in September 1917. He was administrator of

Tréfileries et Laminoirs du Havre The Tréfileries et Laminoirs du Havre (TLH: Le Havre Wire-Drawing and Rolling Mills) was an enterprise based in Le Havre, France, that manufactured copper wire, other copper products and products of other metals including bronze and aluminum. It ...

(TLH) when he was appointed Minister of Armaments. He replaced Albert Thomas and served as armaments minister until 26 November, 1918 when he became Minister of Industrial Re-construction where he remained until 20 January, 1920. He was the principal economic advisor for

Georges Clemenceau Georges Benjamin Clemenceau (, also , ; 28 September 1841 – 24 November 1929) was a French statesman who served as Prime Minister of France from 1906 to 1909 and again from 1917 until 1920. A key figure of the Independent Radicals, he was a ...

at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference. The product of this conference was the controversial

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...

. He was Minister of Liberated Regions from 16 January 1921 to 15 January 1922 in the 7th cabinet of

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 ...

. Loucheur was briefly Minister of Commerce, Industry, Posts, and Telegraphs under Raymond Poincaré in 1924. He also served as

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

in Briand's seventh Government during 1925 and 1926. In

Édouard Herriot Édouard Marie Herriot (; 5 July 1872 – 26 March 1957) was a French Radical politician of the Third Republic who served three times as Prime Minister (1924–1925; 1926; 1932) and twice as President of the Chamber of Deputies. He led the f ...

's Second Ministry Loucheur served as Minister of Commerce and Industry and from June 1928 to February 1930. He succeeded Maurice Bokanowski, who had died in an air accident. He then served again under Poincaré as Minister of Labour, Hygiene, Welfare Work, and Social Security Provisions.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Loucheur, Louis 1872 births 1931 deaths People from Roubaix French Protestants Politicians from Hauts-de-France Democratic Republican Alliance politicians Independent Radical politicians French Ministers of Commerce, Industry, Posts, and Telegraphs French Ministers of Finance French Ministers of Liberated Regions 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 14th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic École Polytechnique alumni Burials at Montparnasse Cemetery