François Labrousse (29 December 1878,

Brive-la-Gaillarde Brive-la-Gaillarde (; Limousin dialect of ), commonly known as simply Brive, is a commune of France. It is a sub-prefecture and the largest city of the Corrèze department. It has around 46,000 inhabitants, while the population of the aggl ...

– 27 November 1951, Brive-la-Gaillarde) was a French politician and member of the Resistance.

Biography

He was a doctor, specializing in

psychiatry Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of deleterious mental disorder, mental conditions. These include matters related to cognition, perceptions, Mood (psychology), mood, emotion, and behavior. ...

, and often served as an expert witness at the Court of Appeal of Paris. In 1921, he was elected a

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

for the Department of Corrèze; a position that was held by his father, , from 1894 to 1910. Known for his oratorical skills, he was aligned with the , and was involved with most of that period's controversial issues; notably the

Locarno Treaties The Locarno Treaties, known collectively as the Locarno Pact, were seven post-World War I agreements negotiated amongst Germany, France, Great Britain, Belgium, Italy, Second Polish Republic, Poland and First Czechoslovak Republic, Czechoslovak ...

and the Kellogg-Briand Pact. At

Vichy Vichy (, ; ) is a city in the central French department of Allier. Located on the Allier river, it is a major spa and resort town and during World War II was the capital of Vichy France. As of 2021, Vichy has a population of 25,789. Known f ...

, in 1940, he helped to rally a group of veteran Senators, in their vain attempts to oppose the constitutional changes being made. His vote was one of the eighty cast against giving full powers to

Marshal Pétain Marshal is a term used in several official titles in various branches of society. As marshals became trusted members of the courts of Medieval Europe, the title grew in reputation. During the last few centuries, it has been used for elevated of ...

. As a result, he was placed under surveillance by the Vichy Régime. In 1941, while back in his hometown, the Régime accused him of holding a high position with the

Freemasons Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

. Shortly after, he resigned his office and joined the Resistance. Following the invasion of the

zone libre The ''zone libre'' (, ''free zone'') was a partition of the French metropolitan territory during World War II, established at the Second Armistice at Compiègne on 22 June 1940. It lay to the south of the demarcation line and was administered b ...

by German troops, he became a special target for the

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, 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 F ...

, forcing him, at the age of sixty-five, to join the Maquis. In 1944, after the fall of the Vichy government, he was elected to the

Provisional Consultative Assembly The Provisional Consultative Assembly (, ) was a governmental organ of Free France that operated under the aegis of the French Committee of National Liberation (CFLN) and that represented the resistance movements, political parties, and ter ...

as a

Deputy Deputy or depute may refer to: * Steward (office) * Khalifa, an Arabic title that can signify "deputy" * Deputy (legislator), a legislator in many countries and regions, including: ** A member of a Chamber of Deputies, for example in Italy, Spain, ...

for

Corrèze Corrèze (; ) is a département in France, named after the river Corrèze which runs through it. Although its prefecture is Tulle, its most populated city is Brive-la-Gaillarde. Corrèze is located in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, on the bo ...

. He briefly served as its Vice-President. That same year, as an amateur artist, he was elected to the

Académie des Beaux-Arts The (; ) is a French learned society based in Paris. It is one of the five academies of the . The current president of the academy (2021) is Alain-Charles Perrot, a French architect. Background The academy was created in 1816 in Paris as a me ...

; taking Seat #5 in the "Unattached" section. As a member of the

Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance The Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance (, UDSR) was a French political party founded after the liberation of France from German occupation, mainly active during the Fourth Republic (1947–58). It was a loosely organised "cadre p ...

, he represented the commune of Donzenac from 1945 until his death.

References

Biographical notes and references
from the Comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques @ La France Savante

External links

@ the French Senate website {{DEFAULTSORT:Labrousse, Francois 1878 births 1951 deaths People from Brive-la-Gaillarde Radical Party (France) politicians Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance politicians French senators of the Third Republic Members of the Provisional Consultative Assembly French senators of the Fourth Republic Senators of Corrèze French Freemasons Members of the Académie des beaux-arts French military personnel of World War I The Vichy 80 French Resistance members Commanders of the Legion of Honour Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France) Recipients of the Resistance Medal