René Marx Dormoy (, 1 August 1888 – 26 July 1941) was a French

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

politician, noted for his opposition to the

far right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and Nativism (politics), nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on ...

. Under his leadership as Minister of the Interior in the government of

Léon Blum André Léon Blum (; 9 April 1872 – 30 March 1950) was a French socialist politician and three-time Prime Minister of France. As a Jew, he was heavily influenced by the Dreyfus affair of the late 19th century. He was a disciple of socialist l ...

, the French police infiltrated '' La Cagoule,'' which was planning the overthrow of the

French Third Republic The French Third Republic (, sometimes written as ) was the system of government adopted in France from 4 September 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed during the Franco-Prussian War, until 10 July 1940, after the Fall of France durin ...

, led by the Popular Front government. Dormoy directed the arrest and imprisonment of 70 cagoulards in November 1937. The police recovered 2 tons of armaments from their sites. After the

Occupation of France The Military Administration in France (; ) was an Military Administration (Nazi Germany), interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zone in areas of northern and western French Third ...

, Dormoy as a representative refused to approve providing full powers to Marshal Philippe Petain and the

Vichy government Vichy France (; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was a French rump state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II, established as a result of the French capitulation after the defeat against ...

. He was arrested in 1940 and interned in house arrest in

Montélimar Montélimar (; Vivaro-Alpine dialect, Vivaro-Alpine: ''Montelaimar'' ; ) is a town in the Drôme Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region in Southeastern France. It is the second-largest town in t ...

. He was assassinated there in July 1941 by a bomb set off at his house. It was believed to be the work of La Cagoule terrorists.

Biography

Early career

He was born in

Montluçon Montluçon (; ) is a commune in central France on the river Cher. It is the largest commune in the Allier department, although the department's prefecture is located in the smaller town of Moulins. Its inhabitants are known as ''Montluçonna ...

, in

Allier Allier ( , , ; ) is a Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region that borders Cher (department), Cher to the west, Nièvre to the north, Saône-et-Loire and Loire (department), Loire to the east, Pu ...

as the youngest son of

Jean Dormoy Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * Je ...

, a shoemaker and activist of the

French Workers' Party The French Workers' Party (, POF) was the French socialist party created in 1880 by Jules Guesde and Paul Lafargue, Karl Marx's son-in-law (famous for having written '' The Right to Be Lazy'', which criticized work as such, criticizing heavily l ...

, who later became the first socialist mayor of Montluçon. René Marx Dormoy (called Marx) attended local schools and became active in politics. He was elected mayor of his native town in 1926. He was elected in 1931 as representative of the Section française de l'Internationale ouvrière (SFIO) to the

French National Assembly The National Assembly (, ) is the lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral French Parliament under the French Fifth Republic, Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (France), Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are known ...

from the

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. There are a total of 101 ...

''.

Popular Front

A member of the Popular Front's government, cabinet secretary to

, he played a part in negotiating the Matignon Accords. From 1936 to 1938 he was

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

(replacing

Roger Salengro Roger Henri Charles Salengro (30 May 1890 – 18 November 1936) was a French politician. He achieved fame as Minister of the Interior during the Popular Front government in 1936. He committed suicide a few months after taking office, after bei ...

). He worked to suppress violent far right groups such as the ''

Cagoule A cagoule (, also spelled cagoul, kagoule or kagool), is the British English term for a lightweight weatherproof raincoat or anorak with a hood (usually without lining), which often comes in knee-length form.The Chambers Dictionary, 1994, The Ca ...

.'' He used his authority to depose

Jacques Doriot Jacques Doriot (; 26 September 1898 – 22 February 1945) was a French politician, initially communist, later fascist, before and during World War II. In 1936, after his exclusion from the French Communist Party, he founded the French Popular Pa ...

, mayor of Saint-Denis, arguing that the Saint-Denis commune had become the site of anti- republican agitation. He opposed

illegal immigration Illegal immigration is the migration of people into a country in violation of that country's immigration laws, or the continuous residence in a country without the legal right to do so. Illegal immigration tends to be financially upward, wi ...

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

an political refugees to France. On 16 March 1937, Dormoy provoked a crisis inside the Popular Front. The

French Police Law enforcement in France is centralized at the national level. Recently, legislation has allowed local governments to hire their own police officers which are called the ''Municipal Police (France), police municipale''. There are two nation ...

opened fire on a crowd protesting against a ''

Croix-de-Feu The Croix-de-Feu (, ''Cross of Fire'') was a nationalist French league of the interwar period, led by Colonel François de la Rocque (1885–1946). After it was dissolved, as were all other leagues during the Popular Front period (1936–38) ...

'' rally in

Clichy Clichy may refer to: * Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine, a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris Other places in or near Paris * Canton of Clichy, a Hauts-de-Seine administrative division, of which the commune of Clichy is the seat * Clichy-sous-B ...

, after the event had degenerated into disorder. Dormoy was subsequently attacked by

Trotskyist Trotskyism (, ) is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Russian revolutionary and intellectual Leon Trotsky along with some other members of the Left Opposition and the Fourth International. Trotsky described himself as an ...

groups and by

Maurice Thorez Maurice Thorez (; 28 April 1900 – 11 July 1964) was a French politician and longtime leader of the French Communist Party (PCF) from 1930 until his death. He also served as Deputy Prime Minister of France from 1946 to 1947. Pre-war Thorez, ...

, the leader of the

French Communist Party The French Communist Party (, , PCF) is a Communism, communist list of political parties in France, party in France. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its Member of the European Parliament, MEPs sit with The Left in the ...

, who held him responsible for the casualties, as Dormoy had initially authorised the ''Croix-de-Feu'' to march in the city. Dormoy was backed by

, and a

motion of confidence A motion or vote of no confidence (or the inverse, a motion or vote of confidence) is a motion and corresponding vote thereon in a deliberative assembly (usually a legislative body) as to whether an officer (typically an executive) is deemed fi ...

was passed in the Parliament on 23 March. In November 1937, Dormoy ordered the arrest of 70 members of '' La Cagoule'' after the police infiltrated the far-right organization. It had been planning the violent overthrow of the government that month and the installation of a fascist government. The French police seized 2 tons of high explosives, several anti-tank or anti-aircraft guns, 500 machine guns, 65 submachine guns, 134 rifles and 17 sawed-off shotguns. In 1938, as an SFIO

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 Allier, Dormoy spoke out against the

Munich Agreement The Munich Agreement was reached in Munich on 30 September 1938, by Nazi Germany, the United Kingdom, the French Third Republic, French Republic, and the Kingdom of Italy. The agreement provided for the Occupation of Czechoslovakia (1938–194 ...

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 ...

Imprisonment and death

Two years later, after the

Fall of France The Battle of France (; 10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign (), the French Campaign (, ) and the Fall of France, during the Second World War was the German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembourg and the Net ...

, he was one of the minority of parliamentarians who refused to grant full powers to Marshal

Philippe Pétain Henri Philippe Bénoni Omer Joseph Pétain (; 24 April 1856 – 23 July 1951), better known as Marshal Pétain (, ), was a French marshal who commanded the French Army in World War I and later became the head of the Collaboration with Nazi Ger ...

. Pétain's

Vichy France Vichy France (; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was a French rump state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II, established as a result of the French capitulation after the Battle of France, ...

regime had him suspended from his office as mayor on 20 September 1940, and arrested five days later. Dormoy was imprisoned in

Pellevoisin Pellevoisin () is a commune in the Indre department in central France. Marian apparitions On the night of 14 February 1876, as she lay in Pellevoisin dying of pulmonary tuberculosis, Estelle Faguette, a domestic servant, reportedly saw the Vi ...

, then in

Vals-les-Bains Vals-les-Bains (; ) is a commune in the Ardèche department in southern France. Population See also *Communes of the Ardèche department The following is a list of the 335 communes of the Ardèche department of France. The communes ...

, before being placed under

house arrest House arrest (also called home confinement, or nowadays electronic monitoring) is a legal measure where a person is required to remain at their residence under supervision, typically as an alternative to imprisonment. The person is confined b ...

. He was killed in July 1941 by a

bomb A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechan ...

that exploded at his house; it was believed to have been placed by ''Cagoule''

terrorists Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

. This was believed to be reprisal for his suppression of the group in 1937.''Time Magazine'
"Death by bomb"
4 August 1941 Marx Dormoy was given a solemn funeral in his birthplace of Montluçon.

Legacy and honors

*A Métro station and street were named after him in the

18th arrondissement The 18th arrondissement of Paris (''XVIIIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements, or administrative districts, of the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is referred to as ''dix-huitième''. The arrondiss ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

.
An olympic swimming pool
was named after him in Lille.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dormoy, Marx 1888 births People from Montluçon French military personnel of World War I Recipients of the Resistance Medal People murdered in France Deaths by improvised explosive device French Section of the Workers' International politicians French interior ministers Senators of Allier French senators of the Third Republic Terrorism deaths in France French anti-fascists French civilians killed in World War II People murdered in 1941 French politicians assassinated in the 20th century 20th-century French politicians Politicians assassinated in the 1940s Deaths by explosive device