Maurice Lemaire () was a French

Gaullist Gaullism ( ) is a French political stance based on the thought and action of World War II French Resistance leader Charles de Gaulle, who would become the founding President of the Fifth French Republic. De Gaulle withdrew French forces from t ...

politician, born on 25 May 1895 at

Gerbépal Gerbépal () is a commune in the Vosges department in Grand Est in northeastern France. See also *Communes of the Vosges department The following is a list of the 506 communes of the Vosges department of France. Intercommunalities The c ...

in the

Vosges The Vosges ( , ; ; Franconian and ) is a range of medium mountains in Eastern France, near its border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the border, they form a single geomorphological unit and ...

region: he died in Paris on 29 January 1979. Lemaire’s background was as a railway engineer. He was the Director General of the

SNCF The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (, , SNCF ) is France's national State-owned enterprise, state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the Rail transport in France, country's national rail traffic along with th ...

following the liberation of France from German occupation. He was bald from an early age, and thereby acquired the nickname "Saint-Pierre-du-Gros-Caillou". He represented the

department in the National Assembly between 1951 and 1978. He occupied various senior regional political posts between 1947 and 1977, throughout which period Lemaire also served as the mayor of

Colroy-la-Grande Colroy-la-Grande () is a former commune in the Vosges department in northeastern France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune Provenchères-et-Colroy.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 ...

from 1951 to 1955. Nationally he achieved ministerial office under three of the Fourth Republic prime ministers as follows: :* Minister for Housing and Reconstruction under

Joseph Laniel Joseph Laniel (; 12 October 18898 April 1975) was a French conservative politician of the French Fourth Republic, who served as Prime Minister for a year from 1953 to 1954. During the middle of his tenure as Prime Minister Laniel was an unsucce ...

between 1953 and 1954. :* Minister for Housing and Reconstruction under

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 ...

between 1954 and 1955 (with a break between August and November 1954). :* Secretary of State for Trade and Industry under

Guy Mollet Guy Alcide Mollet (; 31 December 1905 – 3 October 1975) was a French politician. He led the socialist French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO) from 1946 to 1969 and was the French Prime Minister from 1956 to 1957. As Prime Ministe ...

between 1956 and 1957. During his political career, Maurice Lemaire promoted the modernization of the tunnel which carries his name.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lemaire, Maurice 1895 births 1979 deaths People from Vosges (department) Politicians from Grand Est Rally of the French People politicians National Centre of Social Republicans politicians Union for the New Republic politicians Union of Democrats for the Republic politicians Rally for the Republic politicians Government ministers of France Deputies of the 2nd National Assembly of the French Fourth Republic Deputies of the 3rd National Assembly of the French Fourth Republic Deputies of the 1st National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 2nd National Assembly of the French Fifth 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 French people of the Algerian War