Jean Adrien François Lecanuet (4 March 1920 – 22 February 1993) was a French centrist politician.

Biography

Lecanuet was born to a family of modest means in

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine, in northwestern France. It is in the prefecture of Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one ...

and gravitated towards

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

studies. He received his diploma at the age of 22, becoming the youngest ''agrégé'' ("A+" professor) in France. He participated in the Second World War

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 ...

movement. In August 1944, he was arrested along with a commando that had just blown up the Lille-Brussels railroad, but he managed to escape with the help of a Pole who had been drafted into the German army. He then married Denise Paillard with whom he had three children. After the Liberation, he became a general inspector at the Ministry of Defence. Under the Fourth Republic, Lecanuet held ministerial posts numerous times (11 posts in 10 years) and was a member of the Christian-Democratic

Popular Republican Movement The Popular Republican Movement (, MRP) was a Christian-democratic political party in France during the Fourth Republic. Its base was the Catholic vote and its leaders included Georges Bidault, Robert Schuman, Paul Coste-Floret, Pierre-Henr ...

(MRP). From 1951 to 1955, he was MRP deputy from the Seine-Inférieure region. He became senator from

Seine-Maritime Seine-Maritime () is a department of France in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the northern coast of France, at the mouth of the Seine, and includes the cities of Rouen and Le Havre. Until 1955 it was named Seine-Inf� ...

in 1959 and was president of the MRP from 1963 to 1965. In 1965, he ran in the presidential election as a center-right candidate. He was supported by Paul Reynaud. He advocated modernity and European integration and declared to represent a third way between Gaullism on the one hand and the Socialist and Communist Left on the other hand. His "modern-style" campaign and dashing smile had some journalists nickname him "the French Kennedy". Lecanuet obtained 3,777,120 votes (15.6%) in the election's first round, forcing

Charles 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 ...

to compete in a second round against

François Mitterrand François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand (26 October 19168 January 1996) was a French politician and statesman who served as President of France from 1981 to 1995, the longest holder of that position in the history of France. As a former First ...

. He replaced the ageing MRP by the Democratic Centre, integrating the liberal-conservative

National Centre of Independents and Peasants The National Centre of Independents and Peasants (, ; CNIP) is a right-wing agrarian political party in France, founded in 1951 by the merger of the National Centre of Independents (CNI), the heir of the French Republican conservative-liberal ...

. In 1972, Lecanuet founded the Reforming Movement with

Jean-Jacques Servan-Schreiber Jean-Jacques Servan-Schreiber, often referred to as JJSS (13 February 19247 November 2006), was a French journalist and politician. He co-founded in 1953 with Françoise Giroud, and then went on to become president of the Radical Party in 19 ...

. During the French legislative elections of 1973, Lecanuet negotiated the withdrawal of candidates with

Pierre Messmer Pierre Joseph Auguste Messmer (; 20 March 191629 August 2007) was a French Gaullist politician. He served as Minister of Armies under Charles de Gaulle from 1960 to 1969 – the longest serving since Étienne François, duc de Choiseul under ...

to ensure the success of the majority. He was elected deputy of Seine-Maritime and actively participated in the 1974 presidential election campaign in support of

Valéry Giscard d'Estaing Valéry René Marie Georges Giscard d'Estaing (, ; ; 2 February 19262 December 2020), also known as simply Giscard or VGE, was a French politician who served as President of France from 1974 to 1981. After serving as Ministry of the Economy ...

. Lecanuet was Minister of Justice in

Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, ; ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and 1986 to 1988, as well as Mayor of Pari ...

's first cabinet (1974–1976). From 1976 to 1977, he was Minister of State for Territorial Development in the Raymond Barre's first cabinet. In 1978, he was elected president of the UDF, the party coalition created to support President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing. He held that position until 1988. From 1979 to 1988, he was a Deputy in the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

and, as Senator for

, the

French Senate The Senate (, ) is the upper house of the French Parliament, with the lower house being the National Assembly (France), National Assembly, the two houses constituting the legislature of France. It is made up of 348 senators (''sénateurs'' and ...

's chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Armed Forces Commission, a post that he had already held between 1971 and 1973. In 1986 at the beginning of the first period of "cohabitation" in modern French politics (a President and Prime Minister from opposing parties sharing power) Chirac nominated Lecanuet as Foreign Minister, but President

vetoed the appointment, along with some of Chirac's other nominees. In 1968, he was elected

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

, a position he held for 23 years until his death. He died of cancer on 22 February 1993 at the age of 72 in

Neuilly-sur-Seine Neuilly-sur-Seine (; 'Neuilly-on-Seine'), also known simply as Neuilly, is an urban Communes of France, commune in the Hauts-de-Seine Departments of France, department just west of Paris in France. Immediately adjacent to the city, north of the ...

References

Sources

* Chaline (Nadine-Josette), Jean Lecanuet, ''Beauchesne'', Paris, 2000. * Priol (Philippe), ''Jean Lecanuet, le vol de l’albatros'', Maître Jacques, Caen, 2001. , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Lecanuet, Jean 1920 births 1993 deaths Politicians from Rouen Popular Republican Movement politicians Democratic Centre (France) politicians Reformist Movement (France) politicians Centre of Social Democrats politicians Union for French Democracy politicians Ministers of justice of France Deputies of the 2nd National Assembly of the French Fourth Republic French senators of the Fifth Republic Senators of Seine-Maritime Deputies of the 5th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 8th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Members of Parliament for Seine-Maritime Members of the Regional Council of Normandy Candidates in the 1965 French presidential election Lycée Pierre-Corneille alumni French Resistance members French Righteous Among the Nations