François Charles Pierre Schneiter (13 May 1905 – 19 March 1979) was a French politician. Pierre Schneiter was born in Reims, elder son of Charles Albert Schneiter, a wine broker, and Jeanne Marie Alice Sart. Charles Schneiter's father was a watchmaker from Bern, whose ancestors had come from

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

. Pierre's only sibling André (Marie François André Schneiter) was born in 1914. The brothers followed their father into the wine trade. Pierre married Marguerite Marie Thérèse Fandre in 1931. Their son Jean-Louis (born 1933) was mayor of Reims until 2008. Both Schneiter brothers were active in 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 ...

during 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 ...

. André was arrested 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 ...

in 1944 and executed at Tournes on 29 August 1944. In 1946 Pierre Schneiter was elected as a candidate for the

Popular Republican Movement The Popular Republican Movement (french: Mouvement Républicain Populaire, MRP) was a Christian-democratic political party in France during the Fourth Republic. Its base was the Catholic vote and its leaders included Georges Bidault, Robert Sc ...

to represent Marne in 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 rep ...

. He served as Assistant-Secretary for Foreign Affairs and as Secretary for German Affairs for before being appointed

Minister of Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental health. Coun ...

in 1948, serving until 11 August 1951. He replaced André Le Troquer as President of the National Assembly for a short period in early 1955. He left the National Assembly in 1958. Schneiter was mayor of Reims from 1957 to 1959. He was made an Officer of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

References

Dictionnaire de biographie rémoise
1905 births 1979 deaths Politicians from Reims Popular Republican Movement politicians Presidents of the National Assembly (France) French Ministers of Health French Resistance members Officiers of the Légion d'honneur {{Marne-politician-stub