Pierre Semard (15 February 1887, Bragny-sur-Saône,

Saône-et-Loire Saône-et-Loire (; Arpitan: ''Sona-et-Lêre'') is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in France. It is named after the rivers Saône and Loire, between which it lies, in the country's central-eastern part. Saône-et-Loire is Bo ...

– 7 March 1942,

Évreux Évreux () is a commune in and the capital of the department of Eure, in the French region of Normandy. Geography The city is on the Iton river. Climate History In late Antiquity, the town, attested in the fourth century CE, was named ...

Eure Eure () is a department in Normandy in Northwestern France, named after the river Eure. Its prefecture is Évreux. In 2019, Eure had a population of 599,507.French Communist Party The French Communist Party (french: Parti communiste français, ''PCF'' ; ) is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its MEPs sit in the European ...

(acting as its secretary general from 1924 to 1928). He was shot in prison by the Nazi occupiers in 1942, and is buried at the

Père Lachaise Cemetery Père Lachaise Cemetery (french: Cimetière du Père-Lachaise ; formerly , "East Cemetery") is the largest cemetery in Paris, France (). With more than 3.5 million visitors annually, it is the most visited necropolis in the world. Notable figure ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

. He was key figure in the

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

(SFIO) and a trade unionist in the

Confédération générale du travail unitaire The Confédération générale du travail unitaire, or CGTU ( en, United General Confederation of Labor), was a trade union confederation in France that at first included anarcho-syndicalists and soon became aligned with the French Communist Par ...

(CGTU) and

Confédération générale du travail The General Confederation of Labour (french: Confédération Générale du Travail, CGT) is a national trade union center, founded in 1895 in the city of Limoges. It is the first of the five major French confederations of trade unions. It is ...

(CGT).

Life

Childhood and youth

Born on February 15 1887 the year in Bragny-sur-Saône, department of Saône-et-Loire in the family of railway workers. He spent his childhood in Villeneuve-sur-Yonne, department of Yonne. He followed in the footsteps of his parents, from the age of 13 he also started working on the railway.

Unionist militant

From 1906 he took an active part in the trade union movement alongside Pierre Monatte and In 1916 he joined the

(SFIO) In 1921-1922 he was General Secretary of the Railway Workers' Trade Union, from 1922 to 1924 and again from 1933 to 1936 - General Secretary of the United Trade Union of Railway Workers.

Communist leader

In November 1922, Semard meets Lenin in Moscow with the company of Gaston Monmousseau. Lenin makes concessions to his interlocutors, so that back in France, Semard justifies the CGTU's membership in the SRI. He then joined the Communist Party in joint action against the occupation of the Ruhr. It is for this reason that in 1923 he was arrested and imprisoned for a few months in the Prison of Health. During his imprisonment, he wrote numerous articles in ''

La Vie Ouvrière LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figur ...

'' where he pleaded in particular for open mass unionism that did not assert any doctrine. Despite these positions and his sympathy for anarcho syndicalism, which were far removed from those of the

Communist International The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to "struggle by ...

he became general secretary of the Communist Party in 1924. He was relieved of his position as general secretary in 1929 and became head of the Paris section of the PCF. In 1935 he was elected to the General Council of the

Seine Department Seine was the former department of France encompassing Paris and its immediate suburbs. It is the only enclaved department of France at that time. Its prefecture was Paris and its INSEE number was 75. The Seine department was disbanded in 1968 ...

Return to unionism

After being pushed away from the PCF's leadership he continued his unionist activities. Since 1936 Secretary General of the United Federation of Railway Workers of France and Algeria, member of the Executive Committee of the General Confederation of Labor. He Supported the policy of nationalization of the railways by the government of

Léon Blum André Léon Blum (; 9 April 1872 – 30 March 1950) was a French socialist politician and three-time Prime Minister. As a Jew, he was heavily influenced by the Dreyfus affair of the late 19th century. He was a disciple of French Socialist le ...

. He Provided assistance to the Republicans during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlism, Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebeli ...

Second World War

After the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact he was dismissed from his role as the Councillor of the Seine Department and returned to work as a railway worker and was later imprisoned on accounts of embezzlement. After the German invasion of France he was evacuated to another prison. In the beginning of 1942, Pierre Semard was transferred from Bourges to the Gaillon internment camp where he found himself with common law prisoners. In March 6, he was sent to Évreux prison, delivered at their request as a hostage to the German authorities, he was shot on March 7, 1942 alongside other political prisoners.

Works

* ''Pour le Front unique des transports'', 1923 * ''La Guerre du Rif'', 1925. * ''Histoire de la Fédération des cheminots'', 1934. * ''Transports en commun bon marché'', 1936. * « Entretien avec Lénine à l'occasion du IIe congrès du profintern », (retranslated from the Russian), Lénine tel qu'il fut, souvenirs de contemporains, vol. 2, Moscou, 1959.

References

Sources

* Article by Serge Wokilow in ''Dictionnaire biographique du mouvement ouvrier, Éditions ouvrières. * Philippe Robrieux, ''Histoire intérieure du parti communiste'', Volume IV, Fayard, 1984.

External links

André Marty : à la mémoire de Pierre Semard
{{DEFAULTSORT:Semard, Pierre 1887 births 1942 deaths French trade union leaders People from Saône-et-Loire French Section of the Workers' International politicians French Communist Party politicians Members of the General Confederation of Labour (France) Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery