Christian Fouchet (; 17 November 1911 – 11 August 1974) was a French politician.

Biography

He was born in

Saint-Germain-en-Laye Saint-Germain-en-Laye () is a Communes of France, commune in the Yvelines Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, from the Kilometre Zero, centre of Paris. ...

Yvelines Yvelines () is a department in the western part of the Île-de-France region in Northern France. In 2019, it had a population of 1,448,207.Ecole des sciences politiques. After Marshal Petain's request for an armistice with

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

on 17 June 1940, Fouchet boarded a London-bound British airplane to offer his services to General Charles de Gaulle and the

Free French forces __NOTOC__ The French Liberation Army ( ; AFL) was the reunified French Army that arose from the merging of the Armée d'Afrique with the prior Free French Forces (; FFL) during World War II. The military force of Free France, it participated ...

. His missions primarily involved liaison work between the Free French in London and the

resistance movement A resistance movement is an organized group of people that tries to resist or try to overthrow a government or an occupying power, causing disruption and unrest in civil order and stability. Such a movement may seek to achieve its goals through ei ...

in France. Fouchet received his first diplomatic assignment in 1944, when he was made a secretary of the French embassy in Moscow. In 1945 he represented de Gaulle's provisional government in Poland. He subsequently served as Consul General in India until 1947. In 1954 Fouchet began a two-year term as Minister for Moroccan and Tunisian Affairs in the government of

Pierre Mendès France Pierre Isaac Isidore Mendès France (; 11 January 190718 October 1982) was a French politician who served as prime minister of France for eight months from 1954 to 1955. As a member of the Radical Party, he headed a government supported by a c ...

. He was the French ambassador to Denmark from 1958 to 1962. He was the French Minister of National Education from 28 November 1962 to 6 April 1967. He was the last French colonial head of Algeria from 19 March 1962 to 3 July 1962. He was the French Minister of the Interior from 6 April 1967 to 31 May 1968. He is the father of the French novelist Lorraine Fouchet. Fouchet held the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

as a chevalier in 1946 and as a commandeur in 1961, the

Croix de Guerre The (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awarded during World ...

, the Croix de la Valeur Militaire, the Croix of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Medal of the Resistance and the Medal of Free France.

References

1911 births 1974 deaths People from Saint-Germain-en-Laye Politicians from Île-de-France Rally of the French People politicians Union for the New Republic politicians Union of Democrats for the Republic politicians French interior ministers Ministers of national education of France Deputies of the 2nd National Assembly of the French Fourth Republic Deputies of the 3rd National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 4th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 5th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Ambassadors of France to Denmark Free French military personnel of World War II French people of the Algerian War Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery {{France-politician-stub