André Diethelm (3 July 1896 – 11 January 1954) was a

French Resistance The French Resistance ( ) was a collection of groups that fought the German military administration in occupied France during World War II, Nazi occupation and the Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy#France, collaborationist Vic ...

fighter and politician. As an

Inspector General of Finance Inspector, also police inspector or inspector of police, is a police rank. The rank or position varies in seniority depending on the organization that uses it. Australia The rank of Inspector is present in all Australian police forces excep ...

, he joined

General de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French general and statesman who led the Free France, Free French Forces against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Re ...

and

Free France Free France () was a resistance government claiming to be the legitimate government of France following the dissolution of the Third French Republic, Third Republic during World War II. Led by General , Free France was established as a gover ...

during the Second World War, and presided over the

Rally of the French People The Rally of the French People ( , RPF) was a right-wing French political party, existing from 1947 to 1955 and led by Charles de Gaulle. Foundation The RPF was founded by Charles de Gaulle in Strasbourg on 14 April 1947, one year after his resi ...

political party ( (RPF)) under the Fourth Republic.

Early life and education

He was born in

Bourg-en-Bresse Bourg-en-Bresse (; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Ain department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Eastern France. Located northeast of Lyon, it is the capital of the ancient Provinces of France, province of Bresse (). I ...

(

Ain Ain (, ; ) is a French department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Eastern France. Named after the Ain river, it is bordered by the Saône and Rhône rivers. Ain is located on the country's eastern edge, on the Swiss border, where it ...

department) and pursued a secondary education in

Foix Foix ( , ; ; ) is a commune, the former capital of the County of Foix. It is the capital of the department of Ariège as it is the seat of the prefecture of that department. Foix is located in the Occitanie region of southwestern France ...

. He was admitted to the prestigious

École normale supérieure École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by Secondary education in France, secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing i ...

in Paris in 1914, but the war interrupted his studies just as they began.

Career

Diethelm fought in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, in

Alsace Alsace (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...

, on the Eastern front, and in Greece. After the war, he returned to the École normale supérieure but in 1919 he gave up taking the competitive civil service exam, preferring to go for the competitive exam for the Inspectorate General of Finances, in which he came in second. He was in charge of the finances of

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia (historically known as Indochina and the Indochinese Peninsula) is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to th ...

, then became director of

Georges Mandel Georges Mandel (born Louis George Rothschild; 5 June 1885 – 7 July 1944) was a French journalist and politician who was a member of the Chamber of Deputies representing Gironde from 1919 to 1924 and from 1928 until the dissolution of the Fren ...

's cabinet from 1938 to 1940.

French Resistance

Joining Free France, he was appointed commissioner for the Interior, Labour and Information, by de Gaulle, then for Finance and Pensions, and finally for Finance, the Economy and the Merchant Navy under the

French National Committee The French National Committee (, CNF) was the coordinating body created by General Charles de Gaulle which acted as the government in exile of Free France from 1941 to 1943. The committee was the successor of the smaller Empire Defense Coun ...

in 1941–1943. He was the first director of the Caisse Centrale de la France Libre. In the government of Algiers (

French Committee of National Liberation French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band) ...

, CFLN), he was commissioner for Production and Commerce, then for Supply and Production. On 4 April 1944, he became War Commissioner. And on 9 September 1944, Minister of War in the through 21 November 1945. Deputy of the

Vosges The Vosges ( , ; ; Franconian and ) is a range of medium mountains in Eastern France, near its border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the border, they form a single geomorphological unit and ...

in the , he then sat on the Council of the Republic from 1948 to 1951. Then he was deputy for the

Seine-et-Oise Seine-et-Oise () is a former department of France, which encompassed the western, northern and southern parts of the metropolitan area of Paris. Its prefecture was Versailles and its administrative number was 78. Seine-et-Oise was disbanded in ...

department in 1951. He succeeded

Jacques Soustelle Jacques Soustelle (; 3 February 1912 – 6 August 1990) was an important and early figure of the Free French Forces, a politician who served in the French National Assembly and at one time served as Governor General of Algeria, an anthropologis ...

as President of the

(RPF) faction in the National Assembly, then chaired the (URAS). Sickness forced him to give up his post, which was taken over by

Jacques Chaban-Delmas Jacques Chaban-Delmas (; 7 March 1915 – 10 November 2000) was a French Gaullist politician. He served as Prime Minister under Georges Pompidou from 1969 to 1972. He was the Mayor of Bordeaux from 1947 to 1995 and a deputy for the Gironde ''d ...

. President

Vincent Auriol Vincent Jules Auriol (; 27 August 1884 – 1 January 1966) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1947 to 1954. Early life and politics Auriol was born in Revel, Haute-Garonne, as the only child of Jacques Antoine Aurio ...

asked him to form a government on 24 May 1953, but he refused.

Death

Diethelm died on 11 January 1954 in Paris.

References

Works cited

External links

National Library of France

2004046071 VIAF

(LCNAF) {{DEFAULTSORT:Diethelm, Andre 1896 births 1954 deaths Politicians from Bourg-en-Bresse Rally of the French People politicians National Centre of Social Republicans politicians Finance ministers of France Members of the Constituent Assembly of France (1945) French senators of the Fourth Republic Deputies of the 2nd National Assembly of the French Fourth Republic French nationalists Inspection générale des finances (France) École Normale Supérieure alumni French Army officers French military personnel of World War I