Jacques Baumel (; 6 March 1918 – 17 February 2006) was a French politician. He was born on 6 March 1918 in

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

and died on 17 February 2006 in

Rueil-Malmaison Rueil-Malmaison () or simply Rueil is a Communes of France, commune in the western suburbs of Paris, in the Hauts-de-Seine Departments of France, department, Île-de-France Regions of France, region. It is located from the centre of Paris. It is ...

. He 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 (under the aliases "Saint-Just", "Berneix" or "Rossini"), deputy in the National Assembly, 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 ...

, an important leader of the Gaullist movement, and secretary of state and mayor of

Resistance fighter

After medical studies in France, Baumel took part in the French Resistance and directed the

Combat Combat (French language, French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent Conflict (process), conflict between multiple combatants with the intent to harm the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed (Hand-to-hand combat, not usin ...

resistance group in arseille. In 1943, he was secretary general of the Mouvements Unis de la Résistance (United movements of the Resistance) (MUR). In 1945, helped to found the Union démocratique et socialiste de la Résistance (UDSR). He was a member of the

Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance">Union démocratique et socialiste de la Résistance (UDSR). He was a member of the Provisional Consultative Assembly. In 1945, he was elected deputy of the National Assembly of Moselle (department)">Moselle The Moselle ( , ; ; ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it joins at Koblenz. A sm ...

to the First National Constituent Assembly, was elected in Creuse to the Second Assembly but defeated in the elections to the National Assembly of 1946. He chaired the parliamentary group of the UDSR. He participated in the development of Rassemblement du peuple français (

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 ...

) (RPF) from its founding in 1947.

Record of political longevity

As a senator from 1959 to 1967, he was one of the assistant secretaries general of the

Union for the New Republic The Union for the New Republic (, , UNR) was a Gaullist political party in France, formed in support of Charles de Gaulle in the 1958 elections. History The UNR won 189 of 466 seats in the November 1958 elections. In 1962, the UNR grouped ...

(UNR). He went to the United States and examined the campaign of

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the first Roman Catholic and youngest person elected p ...

in 1960. He became the general secretary of the Gaullist movement on 7 December 1962 after the success of the UNR in November, a position he held until 19 January 1968, when he was replaced by

Robert Poujade Robert Poujade (; 6 May 1928 – 8 April 2020), born in Moulins, Allier, was a French politician. He was the first French Minister of the Environment and was mayor of Dijon from 1971 to 2001. Biography The son of a professor of literatu ...

. He was elected during the new elections to the National Assembly in 1967 and held a seat in

Palais Bourbon The Palais Bourbon () is the meeting place of the National Assembly, the lower legislative chamber of the French Parliament. It is in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, on the Rive Gauche of the Seine across from the Place de la Concorde. The offi ...

until 2002. He was a member of the UniNR, of the Union for the Defence of the Republic (UDR) and

Rally for the Republic The Rally for the Republic ( ; RPR ) was a Gaullist and conservative political party in France. Originating from the Union of Democrats for the Republic (UDR), it was founded by Jacques Chirac in 1976 and presented itself as the heir of Gaul ...

(RPR).

Mayor for 33 years

Baumel was secretary of state to the

prime minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

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 ...

, from 20 June 1969 to 5 July 1972. He was mayor of Rueil-Malmaison, "a provincial town outside Paris" to use his words, from 1971 to 2004, at the origin of (now Rueil-sur-Seine). He practiced an active policy of twinning with many foreign cities (19 in all). His municipal policy promoted the establishment of head offices of important business, both French and foreign. The

preschool A preschool (sometimes spelled as pre school or pre-school), also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, play school, is an school, educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they ...

system is particularly strong in his city. A library opened in 2002 that bears his name.

Expert on parliamentary diplomacy

He chaired the general council of Hauts-de-Seine for nine years starting in 1970 (from 1970 to 1973 and from 1976 to 1982). Internationally, he represented the

French Parliament The French Parliament (, ) is the Bicameralism, bicameral parliament of the French Fifth Republic, consisting of the Senate (France), Senate (), and the National Assembly (France), National Assembly (). Each assembly conducts legislative sessi ...

in the

Assembly of the Western European Union The Assembly of the Western European Union, also called the European Security and Defence Assembly, was a parliamentary assembly for delegations from the national parliaments of the member countries of the Western European Union (WEU), a securit ...

and the

Inter-Parliamentary Union The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU; , UIP) is an international organization of national parliaments. Its primary purpose is to promote democratic governance, accountability, and cooperation among its members; other initiatives include advancing g ...

where he opposed all forms of totalitarianism. He is buried in the village cemetery of Fourneville in Calvados. His wife, Louise Bachelot, was born on 11 September 1924 and died on 14 November 2013. Baumel appeared as a witness in Patrick Pesnot's 2005 television documentary, ''La traversée du désert'' (Crossing the Desert).

Publications

* * * * * * *

Achievements

* Officer of 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 ...

* Compagnon de la Libération (Companion of the Liberation) *

Croix de guerre 1939–1945 Croix (French for "cross") may refer to: Belgium * Croix-lez-Rouveroy, a village in municipality of Estinnes in the province of Hainaut France * Croix, Nord, in the Nord department * Croix, Territoire de Belfort, in the Territoire de Belfort d ...

(1939-1945 War Cross) * French

Resistance Medal The Resistance Medal (, ) was a decoration bestowed by the French Committee of National Liberation, based in the United Kingdom, during World War II. It was established by a decree of General Charles de Gaulle on 9 February 1943 "to recognize the ...

References

External links