Jean Sauvagnargues

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jean Sauvagnargues (1974)

Jean Sauvagnargues (born April 2, 1915 in Paris , † August 6, 2002 ibid) was a French diplomat and politician .

Studies and diplomatic career

World War II and de Gaulle's staff

The son of a teacher studied German at the École normal supérieure . In 1940 he was captured after the occupation of France by the German Wehrmacht . After his escape he became an employee of the Foreign Ministry of the Vichy government during the Second World War in 1941 . However, in 1943 he joined the Free France movement founded by Charles de Gaulle in Algeria and was a member of de Gaulle's cabinet when the Allied forces began to liberate France in 1944.

Rise to Ambassador

After the Second World War he became an employee of the Commission for German and Austrian Affairs of the Foreign Ministry. In this function he was also a member of the delegation to negotiate the reintegration of the Saarland into the Federal Republic.

From 1955 to 1960 Sauvagnargues was first ambassador to Ethiopia and then an employee of the Department for Africa of the Foreign Ministry. From 1962 to 1970 he was ambassador to Tunisia .

Ambassador in Bonn and Franco-German relations

In 1970 he returned to his original field of foreign policy and was appointed ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany . In this office he was heavily involved in Franco-German relations and participated in the negotiations on the Four Power Agreement on Berlin (1970–1971). Only after more than 17 months and a total of almost 152 conference hours by the ambassadors was the agreement finally in place, in which the Soviet Union guaranteed unrestricted transit traffic between the Federal Republic and West Berlin and thus the viability of the free part of the city.

Foreign Minister 1974–1976 and Ambassador to London

After Valéry Giscard d'Estaing was elected President, he wanted to strengthen Franco-German relations . On May 28, 1974 Sauvagnargues was appointed foreign minister in the first cabinet of Jacques Chirac . During his term of office, which lasted until August 27, 1976, he was also President of the Council of the European Union in the second half of 1974 and succeeded Walter Scheel in this office , who had previously been elected German President .

After President Giscard d'Estaing dismissed Prime Minister Chirac and replaced him with Raymond Barre , he too lost his post as Foreign Minister. After being replaced by Louis de Guiringaud , he was ambassador to Great Britain from 1976 to 1981 .

Biographical sources

Background information

personal data
SURNAME Sauvagnargues, Jean
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French diplomat and politician
DATE OF BIRTH April 2, 1915
PLACE OF BIRTH Paris
DATE OF DEATH August 6, 2002
Place of death Paris