Marius Moutet (19 April 1876 – 29 October 1968) was a French Socialist diplomat and colonial adviser. An expert in colonial issues, he served as Minister of the Colonies for four terms in the 1930s and 1940s and was president of the General council of the Drôme department after the war until 1951. He was sympathetic to

Ho Chi Minh (: ; born ; 19 May 1890 – 2 September 1969), commonly known as (' Uncle Hồ'), also known as ('President Hồ'), (' Old father of the people') and by other aliases, was a Vietnamese revolutionary and statesman. He served as P ...

and advocated the independence of

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

. At the age of 92, Moutet was the oldest member of the

Senate of France The Senate (french: Sénat, ) is the upper house of the French Parliament, with the lower house being the National Assembly, the two houses constituting the legislature of France. The French Senate is made up of 348 senators (''sénateurs'' a ...

and the French Assembly.

Early years

Moutet was born in Nîmes, Gard in 1876. He came from a mixed Protestant-Catholic family of

Rhône valley 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 ...

wine merchants. He studied at the Lycée of Macon and then at the

Lycée Henri IV In France, secondary education is in two stages: * ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 15. * ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for children between ...

, in Paris. He was a member of the

Socialist Students Socialist Students is a socialist organisation with branches in universities, further education colleges and sixth form colleges in the United Kingdom. Socialist Students was established in the late 1990s by members of the Socialist Party (SP) wh ...

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 ...

, and the Independent Socialists in 1895.

Career

After becoming a lawyer, he was a delegate from the

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 ...

department to the second organization of French socialists' congress held in

Wagram Deutsch-Wagram (literally "German Wagram", ), often shortened to Wagram, is a village in the Gänserndorf District, in the state of Lower Austria, Austria. It is in the Marchfeld Basin, close to the Vienna city limits, about 15 km (9 mi) northeas ...

in September 1900. Five years later, he was a delegate from the same department to the founding convention of the French Section of the Workers' International. In July 1914, with the support of

Jean Jaurès Auguste Marie Joseph Jean Léon Jaurès (3 September 185931 July 1914), commonly referred to as Jean Jaurès (; oc, Joan Jaurés ), was a French Socialist leader. Initially a Moderate Republican, he later became one of the first social dem ...

during his candidacy, Moutet was elected Député (Member) in the National Assembly of France representing the Lyon-

Vaise Vaise is a neighborhood of the City of Lyon (France), located along the Saône The Saône ( , ; frp, Sona; lat, Arar) is a river in eastern France. It is a right tributary of the Rhône, rising at Vioménil in the Vosges department an ...

district, Rhône. During 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 ...

, in May 1917, he was appointed by

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 ...

to convince the new Russian government, led by

Alexander Kerensky Alexander Fyodorovich Kerensky, ; original spelling: ( – 11 June 1970) was a Russian lawyer and revolutionary who led the Russian Provisional Government and the short-lived Russian Republic for three months from late July to early Nove ...

, to continue the war on the side of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

and Britain. The same year, he supported

Joseph Caillaux Joseph-Marie–Auguste Caillaux (; 30 March 1863 Le Mans – 22 November 1944 Mamers) was a French politician of the Third Republic. He was a leader of the French Radical Party and Minister of Finance, but his progressive views in opposition ...

before the

High Court of Justice The High Court of Justice in London, known properly as His Majesty's High Court of Justice in England, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Senior Courts of England and Wales. Its name is abbreviated as EWHC (Englan ...

. Moutet was a member of the Central Committee of the International Federation for Human Rights in 1918–1936, as Honorary Minister 1936–1939, 1939–1940, 1945–1947. He was re-elected Député again for Rhône in 1919 and 1924, but was defeated in 1928 by the Republican-Socialist Party candidate. On 13 January 1929, he was elected to represent the Drome department, replacing Jules Nadi, who had died. He became a specialist on questions related to the French colonial empire, advocating a generous policy of assimilation, opposing brutal repression and condescending paternalism. He was an advocate for independence in

and friendly towards

Moutet served as Minister of the Colonies in the

Popular Front A popular front is "any coalition of working-class and middle-class parties", including liberal and social democratic ones, "united for the defense of democratic forms" against "a presumed Fascist assault". More generally, it is "a coalition ...

governments of 1936 to 1938 under Léon Blum government and Camille Chautemps. Moutet later expressed criticism of the Popular Front. Moutet faced difficult colonial issues such as removing the prisons in

French Guiana French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label=French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic coast of South America in the Guianas. ...

. To improve the plight of colonized peoples, he removed the Indigénat Code of its substance in the years 1936 and 1937, and completely repealed it on 6 April 1938. He ordered the colonial administrators to view famine not as inevitable but as a scourge to be combated following the survey from June 1936 to February 1937. He stepped up initiatives to associate the colonized people to the administration within their territory. He called for the first time that a black resident, Félix Éboué, become Governor of the Guadeloupe and the

French Equatorial Africa French Equatorial Africa (french: link=no, Afrique-Équatoriale française), or the AEF, was the federation of French colonial possessions in Equatorial Africa, extending northwards from the Congo River into the Sahel, and comprising what are ...

. He voted for amnesty and the independence of Vietnam. On 14 May 1939, at the Congress of the federation of French Section of the Workers' International which met at

Drôme Drôme (; Occitan: ''Droma''; Arpitan: ''Drôma'') is the southernmost department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. Named after the river Drôme, it had a population of 516,762 as of 2019.

, he stated that "every concession (to the Axis Powers) brings us closer to war." Moutet was one of The Vichy 80 who refused full authority to

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 10 July 1940. He subsequently went underground and took refuge in Switzerland from 1941 to avoid arrest, with one of his sons being confined to his place in

Vals-les-Bains Vals-les-Bains (; oc, Vals) is a commune in the Ardèche department in southern France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and te ...

by the

Vichy government Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its terr ...

in retaliation. At the end of the war, he was re-elected to the Drôme department in the two Constitutional conventions in 1945, and was elected to the Council of the Republic. He was president of the General council of Drôme until 1951. He held the

Minister of Overseas France The Minister of the Overseas (french: Ministre des Outre-mer) is the official in charge of the Ministry of the Overseas in the Government of the French Republic, responsible for overseeing Overseas France. The office was titled Minister of ...

position under

Félix Gouin Félix Gouin (; 4 October 1884 – 25 October 1977) was a French Socialist politician who was a member of the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO). Personal life Félix Gouin was born in Peypin, Bouches-du-Rhône, the son of ...

, Georges Bidault, Blum's third government, and

Paul Ramadier Paul Ramadier (17 March 1888 in La Rochelle – 14 October 1961 in Rodez) was a French statesman. Biography The son of a psychiatrist, Ramadier graduated in law from the University of Toulouse and started his profession as a lawyer in Par ...

. He negotiated with

and founded Le fonds d'investissement des départements d'outre-mer (FIDOM) (Investment Fund for Economic and Social territories overseas). From 1947, he was in the French Sudan, and that year he attempted to pass the Code du travail by decree before he left office in November. As a parliamentarian, he worked for peace in the

Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is the parliamentary arm of the Council of Europe, a 46-nation international organisation dedicated to upholding human rights, democracy and the rule of law. The Assembly is made up ...

, the

Assembly of the Western European Union The Assembly of the Western European Union, also called the European Security and Defence Assembly, was a parliamentary assembly for delegations from the national parliaments of the member countries of the Western European Union (WEU), a securit ...

and the Inter-Parliamentary Union. He served for the Drôme department from 1948, first in the Council of the Republic under the Fourth Republic, and then in the Senate under the Fifth Republic up his death. At the age of 92, Moutet was the oldest member of the

and the French Assembly. At the initiative of Jean Besson, senator from the Drôme, the Cahier de l'Institut Marius Moutet – Centre d'histoire de Sciences Po is an institute of contemporary history that bears his name. Freddy Martin-Rosset, mayor of Épinouze, published a biography covering Moutet's political career in the Drôme, ''L'itinéraire politique drômois de Marius Moutet" (2012).

Personal life

Moutet was twice married. His first wife was Anna Matoussevitch (d. 1926), a

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

from

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...

, whom he met in Lyon where she was studying medicine; they had two sons, Jacques Moutet (1900-1951) and Gustave Moutet (1901-1987), and a daughter, Marianne Moutet Basch (1904–2000). His second wife was Magdeleine Vérilhac (d. 1975); they had a son, Philippe Moutet (1928-2003). Moutet also had two other children, Michel Moutet and Aimée Moutet. Anne-Elisabeth Moutet is his granddaughter.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * Martin-Rosset, Freddy (2012). ''L'itinéraire politique drômois de Marius Moutet''; édition de l'OURS (Office Universitaire de Recherche Socialiste), 12, cité Malesherbes, 75009 Paris. {{DEFAULTSORT:Moutet, Marius 1876 births 1968 deaths People from Nîmes Politicians from Occitania (administrative region) French Section of the Workers' International politicians French Ministers of the Colonies French Ministers of Overseas France Members of the 11th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic 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 Members of the 15th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Members of the 16th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Members of the Constituent Assembly of France (1945) Members of the Constituent Assembly of France (1946) Deputies of the 1st National Assembly of the French Fourth Republic French Senators of the Fourth Republic Senators of French Sudan French Senators of the Fifth Republic Senators of Drôme The Vichy 80 Human Rights League (France) members