Michel Debre

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Michel Debré (left) with Konrad Adenauer in Bonn, 1960

Michel Debré (born January 15, 1912 in Paris , † August 2, 1996 in Montlouis-sur-Loire ) was a French politician of the Gaullist movement and Prime Minister from January 1959 to April 1962.

Life

Michel Debré was the son of the well-known Jewish pediatrician Robert Debré (* 1882, † 1978).

Growing up in Paris, he attended first the traditional high schools Lycée Montaigne and the Lycée Louis-le-Grand , and finally at the l'École libre des sciences politiques (the forerunner of the Sciences Po ) with a doctorate in law to conclude and to move into the Conseil d'État at the age of 22 . As a reserve officer he served in the cavalry from September 1939 and in June 1940 (shortly before the end of the Wehrmacht's western campaign ) he was taken prisoner of war by the Germans, from which he was able to escape shortly afterwards. Debré joined the Resistance in occupied France in 1940 . Emmanuel Monick, appointed General Secretary of the Protectorate of Morocco in March 1941, made Debré his 'directeur de cabinet'. He held this post from April to October 1941. General Charles de Gaulle , head of the French government-in-exile in London, made Debré one of his collaborators and instructed him in the summer of 1943 to select administrative officials for Liberation Day .

In 1945 he was commissioned by de Gaulle to found the elite university École nationale d'administration (ENA). He became a co-founder of the Union pour la Nouvelle République (UNR), where he became a member of the Central Committee. During the Fourth Republic he was Senator of the Indre-et-Loire department from 1948 to 1958 . From 1953 to 1959 he was also a member of the European Parliament . From 1958, as Minister of Justice in the de Gaulle III government, he was instrumental in drafting the constitution for the Fifth Republic , of which he was the first Prime Minister from January 8, 1959 to April 14, 1962. From 1966 to 1968 Debré was transferred to the Ministry of Economy and Finance , from 1968 to 1969 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and from 1969 to 1973 the Ministry of Defense .

After he became a Member of Parliament from Réunion in 1963 , he organized the controversial relocation of more than a thousand children from the island.

In the Fifth Republic he was the ideologue of the new French nationalism , which puts the nation back at the top of the political system of values. The nation is organized in a state that is characterized by internal and external sovereignty. In this ideology, a unity of Europe is only conceivable if a new European nation is formed around the nation of France as the core. The worst crisis of the EEC of 1965 (de Gaulle's empty chair policy ) must be classified against this background .

In 1976 Debré founded the Gaullist party Rassemblement pour la République (RPR) with Jacques Chirac . From 1979 to 1980 he was again a member of the European Parliament.

When he ran for president in 1981 , he received just 1.65% of the vote.

Debré had four sons:

  • the entrepreneur Vincent Debré (* 1939)
  • the journalist François Debré (* 1942)
  • the urologist and politician Bernard Debré (* 1944)
  • the politician Jean-Louis Debré (* 1944)

His grave is in the Westhoffen Jewish cemetery . It was desecrated in a cemetery desecration on December 3, 2019.

Electoral mandates

Government offices

  • 1958–1959: Minister of Justice
  • 1959–1962: Prime Minister
  • 1966–1968: Minister for the Economy and Finance
  • 1968–1969: Foreign Minister
  • 1969–1973: Minister of Defense

Académie française

On March 24, 1988, Michel Debré was selected to succeed Louis de Broglies (after his death on March 19, 1987) at the 1st seat of the Académie française . The official inauguration took place on January 19, 1989. After Debre's own death in turn, he was replaced on March 20, 1997 by François Furet , who died before this function came about, whereupon René Rémond finally took over on June 18, 1998 .

Awards

Publications

  • La Mort de l'État Républicain , 1947 - (Eng. The end of the republican state)
  • Ces Princes qui nous gouvernent , 1957 - (Eng. These princes in the government)
  • Une certaine idée de la France , 1972 - (Eng. A certain conception of France)
  • Une Politique pour la Réunion , 1975 - (Eng. A policy of the assembly)
  • Le Pouvoir Politique , 1977 - (German political power)
  • Le Gaullisme , 1978 - (German: Gaullism)
  • Français, Choisissez l'Espoir , 1979 - (German French , choose hope)
  • Lettre Ouverte aux Français pour la Reconquête de la France , 1980 - (German open letter to the French on the reconquest of France)
  • Peut-on lutter contre le chômage ?, 1982 - ( Eng . Can you fight unemployment?)
  • Trois Républiques pour une France , 4 volumes, 1984–1995 - (German: three republics for one French state)
  • Entretiens avec le Général De Gaulle : 1961–1969, 1993 - (German conversations with General De Gaulle: 1961–1969)
  • Combattre Toujours : 1969–1993, 1994 - (German. Fighting again and again: 1969–1993)

Web links

Commons : Michel Debré  - Collection of Images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Déjà-vu in Alsace , Jüdische Allgemeine, December 15, 2019 Retrieved December 26, 2019
personal data
SURNAME Debre, Michel
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French politician, member of the National Assembly, MEP
DATE OF BIRTH January 15, 1912
PLACE OF BIRTH Paris
DATE OF DEATH 2nd August 1996
Place of death Montlouis-sur-Loire