François Charles Pierre Schneiter (13 May 1905 – 19 March 1979) was a French politician.

Biography

Pierre Schneiter was born in

Reims Reims ( ; ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French Departments of France, department of Marne (department), Marne, and the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 12th most populous city in Fran ...

as the elder son of Charles Albert Schneiter, a wine broker, and Jeanne Marie Alice Sart. Charles Schneiter's father was a watchmaker from

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

, whose ancestors had come from

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

. Pierre's only sibling, Marie François André Schneiter, was born in 1914. The brothers followed their father into the wine trade. Pierre married Marguerite Marie Thérèse Fandre in 1931. Their son Jean-Louis (born 1933) was mayor of Reims until 2008. Both Schneiter brothers were active in the

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 ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. André was arrested by 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 ...

in 1944 and executed at Tournes on 29 August 1944. He is cited in the private papers of U.S. Army ETO Deputy Commander Lt. Gen.

John C. H. Lee John Clifford Hodges Lee (1 August 1887 – 30 August 1958) was a career US Army engineer, who rose to the rank of lieutenant general (United States), lieutenant general and commanded the Communications Zone (ComZ) in the European Theater of Oper ...

as "Sousprefect at Reims" in December 1944. In 1946 Pierre Schneiter was elected as a candidate for the

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 ...

to represent Marne in the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

. He served as Assistant-Secretary for Foreign Affairs and as Secretary for German Affairs before being appointed

Minister of Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare spending and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental heal ...

in 1948, serving until 11 August 1951. He replaced André Le Troquer as President of the National Assembly for a short period in early 1955. He left the National Assembly in 1958. Schneiter was mayor of Reims from 1957 to 1959. He was made an 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 ...

References

Dictionnaire de biographie rémoise
1905 births 1979 deaths Politicians from Reims Popular Republican Movement politicians Ministers of health of France Presidents of the National Assembly (France) Members of the Constituent Assembly of France (1945) Members of the Constituent Assembly of France (1946) Deputies of the 1st National Assembly of the French Fourth Republic Deputies of the 2nd National Assembly of the French Fourth Republic Deputies of the 3rd National Assembly of the French Fourth Republic Members of Parliament for Marne Mayors of Reims French Resistance members French people of the Algerian War Officers of the Legion of Honour {{Marne-politician-stub