Prime minister in 1913 and foreign minister who was killed at Marseille in 1934 while building an alliance against Germany
Born in Oloron-Sainte-Marie in 1862, the son of an ironmonger, he took a doctorate in law and practised at the bar of Pau. Elected deputy for the Basses-Pyrénées in 1889, he first became a minister in 1894, at Public Works, and sat in fifteen governments over forty years. As President of the Council from March to December 1913 he carried the law extending military service to three years. He was elected to the Académie française in 1918 and moved to the Senate in 1922. As foreign minister in the Doumergue cabinet in 1934 he pursued an Eastern Pact to contain Germany and secured the Soviet Union's entry into the League of Nations. On 9 October 1934, during the assassination of King Alexander of Yugoslavia at Marseille, he was struck by a police bullet and died.
Activities and affiliations
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1889–1934
Legislature and state representation
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1894–1934
France state institutionsPresident of the Council, Minister of Foreign AffairsHeads of state and government of FranceMain
Government and administration -
1913–1934
Democratic Republican Alliance
Government and administration
Career Timeline
- 1889–1922Deputy for the Basses-Pyrénées
- 1894–1895Minister of Public Works
- 1909–1913Minister of Justice
- 1913.03.22–12.02President of the Council of Ministers
- 1917Minister of Foreign Affairs
- 1922–1934Senator for the Basses-Pyrénées
- 1934.02–10.09Minister of Foreign Affairs