Alexandre Varenne

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Alexandre Varenne, portrait photograph, 1919

Alexandre Varenne (born October 3, 1870 in Clermont-Ferrand , † February 16, 1947 in Paris ) was a French politician and journalist . He was a long-time member of the National Assembly and served for three years as governor general of French Indochina , where he pushed through liberal reforms.

Origin and career

Varenne was born into a family of small traders in Clermont-Ferrand. He graduated from the Lycée Blaise-Pascal in his hometown and began working as a legal assistant after finishing school. He then went to Paris to get a law degree. After completing his doctorate, he worked as a journalist in his hometown. In 1807 he became involved in the socialist party in his home region of Puy de Dôme .

Political offices in France

He entered the National Assembly for the socialist party for the first time in 1906. From 1914 to 1936 he remained permanently present in parliament as a representative of his home region. In 1924 he was elected Vice-President of Parliament. During the First World War in 1915 he took over the management of the state censorship office . In 1917 he took over the post of education minister in Paul Painlevé's cabinet . In addition to his political activities, he founded the newspaper La Montagne in his hometown .

Political activity in French Indochina

Varenne was appointed to the post of governor general of the colony in 1925. He implemented several liberal reforms with the aim of achieving reconciliation with the emerging nationalist movement. He released the imprisoned nationalist leader Phan Bội Chau from prison. He also implemented regional representations for the locals and programs to reduce the poverty of the Vietnamese rural population through loans. He also tried to expand their access to the education system of the colonial state and to create supervisory authorities that should improve the working conditions of local workers. Varenne's actions met with resistance from the colonists in Indochina and the colonial officials. He resigned from this office in 1928.

On the eve of the Second World War , Varenne campaigned for the support of the Republic of China to counteract the Japanese expansionist drive in Indochina.

During the Vichy regime and the German occupation , Varenne, as the publisher of La Montagne , tried to keep his newspaper alive as a critical voice. In August 1943 he closed it in protest against the censorship of the occupation authorities. It did not appear again until 1944 after the Allied landings in Normandy.

literature

  • Jean-Pierre Caillard: Alexandre Varenne, une passion républicaine . Paris 2007

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Entry “Alexandre Varenne” in Jean Jolly: Dictionnaire des parlementaires français (1889–1940). 1960, pp. 3153–3155 ( digitized version on the website of the National Assembly in French , last accessed on December 2, 2019).
  2. ^ Justin Corfield: Historical Dictionary of Ho Chi Minh City. London 2013, p. 318
  3. ↑ Bruce L. Lockhart, William J. Duiker: Historical Dictionary of Vietnam . Oxford 2006, p. 408
  4. ↑ Volker Nies: "Apaisement" in Asia. France and the Far East Conflict 1937–1940. Munich 2009, p. 388
  5. ^ John Sweets: Choices in Vichy France. The French Under Nazi Occupation. Oxford 1986, pp. 137-144
personal data
SURNAME Varenne, Alexandre
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French journalist and politician
DATE OF BIRTH October 3, 1870
PLACE OF BIRTH Clermont-Ferrand
DATE OF DEATH February 16, 1947
Place of death Paris