Pierre Sudreau (13 May 1919 – 22 January 2012) was a French politician. He served as minister of Construction (1958–1962), minister of Education (1962), member of the French National Assembly (1967–1981) and mayor of Blois (1971–1989). His childhood correspondence with

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Antoine Marie Jean-Baptiste Roger, vicomte de Saint-Exupéry (29 June 1900 – 31 July 1944), known simply as Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (, , ), was a French writer, poet, journalist and aviator. Born in Lyon to an French nobility, aristocratic ...

helped inspire the title character of the 1943 novel ''

The Little Prince ''The Little Prince'' (, ) is a novella written and illustrated by French writer and aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. It was first published in English and French in the United States by Reynal & Hitchcock in April 1943 and was published po ...

''. During the

German occupation of France in World War II The Military Administration in France (; ) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zone in areas of northern and western France. This so-called ' was established in June 19 ...

, Sudreau was a resistance fighter in the Brutus Network. He was imprisoned in the

Buchenwald concentration camp Buchenwald (; 'beech forest') was a German Nazi concentration camp established on Ettersberg hill near Weimar, Nazi Germany, Germany, in July 1937. It was one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps within the Altreich (pre-1938 ...

. After the war, he made a rapid career in civil service and was responsible for the planning of major construction and infrastructure projects during General de Gaulle's government. A convinced pro-European, he presided European Movement France from 1962 to 1968. He was also a lobbyist for the French railway industry and chaired its association FIF from 1963 to 1996.

Biography

Sudreau was born in Paris, the son of businessman Jean Sudreau and Marie-Marguerite (née Boyer) Sudreau. Sudreau studied law and history at the University of Paris (Sorbonne). He was preparing for the ''

agrégation In France, the () is the most competitive and prestigious examination for civil service in the French public education A state school, public school, or government school is a primary school, primary or secondary school that educates all stu ...

'' (state examination for high school teachers) in history but was prevented from taking it by the outbreak of the Second World War. While training as a fighter pilot at the

École de l'air École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * Éco ...

in Bordeaux-Mérignac, France fell to the German Wehrmacht and was forced to surrender in June 1940. Unlike some of his fellow students, he did not flee to England for family reasons (he had just married and had become the father of a child). Instead, he stayed in the so-called free zone in the south of France and served as an officer in the air force of the Vichy regime. Returning to France in May 1945, Sudreau was promoted by de Gaulle and made a career in civil service. He was appointed subprefect, then subdirector at the ministry of the Interior. From 1951 to 1955, he served as prefect of the Central French department of

Loir-et-Cher Loir-et-Cher (, ) is a Departments of France, department in the Centre-Val de Loire Regions of France, region of France. It is named after two rivers which run through it, the Loir in its northern part and the Cher (river), Cher in its southern p ...

whose seat is in

Blois Blois ( ; ) is a commune and the capital city of Loir-et-Cher Departments of France, department, in Centre-Val de Loire, France, on the banks of the lower Loire river between Orléans and Tours. With 45,898 inhabitants by 2019, Blois is the mos ...

. At the time, he was the youngest prefect of any French department. He then took the post of Commissioner for Construction and Urban Planning in the Paris region where he oversaw projects like the construction of large "functional" complexes, the commencement of the RER suburban rail, the

Boulevard Périphérique The Boulevard Périphérique (), often called the Périph, is a limited-access dual-carriageway ring road in Paris, France. With a few exceptions (see '' Structure and Layout''), it is situated along Paris's administrative limit. The spee ...

ring road, and the launch of the

La Défense La Défense () is a major business district in France's Paris metropolitan area, west of the city limits. It is located in Île-de-France region's Departments of France, department of Hauts-de-Seine in the Communes of France, communes of Courbe ...

business district in western Paris. When de Gaulle returned to power as Prime minister in June 1958, he appointed Sudreau to the newly created office as minister of Construction, a position he also retained after the founding of the Fifth Republic under de Gaulle as President of the Republic. In

Georges Pompidou Georges Jean Raymond Pompidou ( ; ; 5 July 19112 April 1974) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1969 until his death in 1974. He previously served as Prime Minister of France under President Charles de Gaulle from 19 ...

's first premiership, Sudreau became

minister of Education An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...

in April 1962. He resigned from this post in October 1962 in protest against a proposal by

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 amend the constitution, introducing direct presidential elections. In 1985, Sudreau sat on the "Jury of Honor" that assessed whatever the film '' Des terroristes à la retraite'' should be aired in France or not. Sudreau referred to the recent Palestinian bombings of American and Israeli targets and stated: "at the very moment when we are again talking about direct action, this broadcast legitimizes terrorist methods.” The "Jury of Honor" in its report stated “though it is highly desirable that a film inform French of all generations about the saga of the FTP-MOI, such a film nevertheless still remains to be made”.

Personal life

He was married to France Brun; they had three children: Jean Sudreau (predeceased), Anne Sudreau O'Connor (predeceased), and Bernard Sudreau. His son Jean died of lung cancer and was married to Danièle Louis-Dreyfus, daughter of

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 and businessman

Pierre Louis-Dreyfus Pierre Louis-Dreyfus (17 May 1908 – 15 January 2011) was a French Resistance fighter during World War II who later was CEO of the Louis Dreyfus Cie. Early life and education Pierre Louis-Dreyfus was born on 17 May 1908 in Paris, one of four ...

Publications

* 1967 ''L'enchaînement'' ( Plon) * 1980 ''La stratégie de l'absurde'' ( Plon) * 1985 ''De l'inertie politique'' (

éditions Stock Stock is a French publisher, a subsidiary of Hachette Livre, which itself is part of the Lagardère Group. It was founded in the 18th century by André Cailleau, who was succeeded in 1753 by Nicolas-Bonaventure Duchesne, who published Voltaire and ...

) * 1991 ''Au-delà de toutes les frontières''

Bibliography

* Christiane Rimbaud, ''Pierre Sudreau'', Le Cherche Midi, 2004

References

Books

External links

* 1919 births 2012 deaths Independent politicians in France Ministers of national education of France Government ministers of France 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 Deputies of the 6th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Members of Parliament for Loir-et-Cher Presidents of the Regional Council of Centre-Val de Loire Members of the Regional Council of Centre-Val de Loire Prefects of Loir-et-Cher Mayors of places in Centre-Val de Loire French Resistance members Buchenwald concentration camp survivors French people of the Algerian War Officers of the Legion of Honour {{France-mayor-stub