Robert Galley

Robert Galley (born January 11, 1921 in Paris , † June 8, 2012 in Troyes ) was a French politician. He worked in various French governments as a minister in various departments.

Origin and education

Galley attended the Lycée Louis-le-Grand in Paris and later the Lycée Hoche in Versailles . He completed his studies at the École centrale des arts et manufactures and the École nationale supérieure du pétrole et des moteurs as a qualified engineer after the Second World War .

Second World War

Galley followed General de Gaulle's call on June 15, 1940 and went to Great Britain to join the Forces françaises libres . After training in Aldershot , he took part in the battle of Dakar as a second class hunter in October and November 1940 , and then in June 1941 in the Syrian-Lebanese campaign . With the rank of Sous-lieutenant , he served as tank commander of the 2nd division blindée of Major General Leclerc , whose daughter he later married. In the summer of 1942 he fought in the first battle of El Alamein . After the division landed in Normandy in the fall of 1944, Galley took part in their advance.

Ministerial career

After the war Galley became involved with the Gaullists and specialized in the oil and later the nuclear industry. In 1954 he became a member of the Commissioner's Office for Atomic Energy, where he was entrusted with special tasks, such as the construction of the Pierrelatte research center (1958–1966). After its completion, Galley was appointed 1st delegate for data processing as part of the “ Plan Calcul ”. In this function he was particularly involved in founding the "Institut de Recherche sur l'informatique et l'Automatique", of which he was appointed first president in 1967. From 1968 to 2002 he was a member of the UDR and RPR of the Aube department . In May 1968 Galley took over the office of Minister for Housing and Equipment in the cabinet of Georges Pompidou . Under Pompidou's successor Maurice Couve de Murville , he was appointed Special Representative for Atomic and Space Research in July 1968. In June 1969 he was appointed post minister in the Chaban-Delmas cabinet . In July 1972, acted Galley in the first cabinet of Pierre Messmer as Minister of Transport, the second in March 1973 as defense minister . In one of his first public speeches, he demanded respect for the army and thus the protest of the political left. In 1972 Galley was also elected Mayor of Troyes , whose office he held until 1995.

When the government under Jacques Chirac was formed on May 27, 1974 , Galley remained as the only UDR minister in the cabinet, but gave his portfolio to Jacques Soufflet and instead took over the post of supply minister again. The "Lex Galley" initiated by him at that time, which was adopted on December 31, 1975 and came into force in April 1976, was intended to curb land speculation and open up new sources of finance for the communities. With this concept, Galley encountered resistance even from within the Gaullist ranks. In the meantime, he brought a new housing policy on the way, which encouraged home ownership and the renovation of old buildings, as well as facilitating the associated financing. Galley also pursued environmental policy goals: he banned the construction of high-rise buildings and prevented the “Cité de l'air” project from being implemented in Paris. At the same time, he campaigned for motorway tolls. Even after Chirac's departure as Prime Minister on August 25, 1976, Galley remained in government as Minister of Cooperation under Raymond Barre . His area of ​​responsibility was primarily the cooperation with the European Community and French development aid . He was elected to the Senate on September 28, 1980, but did not take office at the request of the President, who feared good cooperation with African countries. On December 22, 1980, after the sudden death of his predecessor, Galley took over the post of Minister of Defense in the cabinet. With the replacement of the Barre cabinet, Galley's activity as minister also ended. However, he was later still one of the Gaullists who had been able to hold their place in parliament despite the unfavorable chamber elections. From 1984 to 1990 he was treasurer of the Gaullist RPR.

additional

Robert Galley had been married to Jeanne Leclerc de Hauteclocque, daughter of Major General Leclerc, since 1960, and had two children. He was the owner of an important butterfly collection. He was also a member of the honorary committee of the Mouvement Initiative et Liberté .

His son, Alexis Galley, is the general manager of F4 .

Awards

• Commandeur de la Legion d'honneur
• Ordre de la Liberation
• Croix de guerre (1939)

Web links

• Portrait at the Ordre de la Liberation Museum

predecessor	Office	successor
Jean de Lipkowski	Cooperation Minister of France 29 August 1976-22. December 1980	Jean-Pierre Cot
Olivier Guichard	Housing Minister of France May 27, 1974-25. August 1976	Jean-Pierre Fourcade
Jean Chamant	Minister of Transport of France July 5, 1972-28. March 1973	Yves Guéna
Yves Guéna	Post and Telecommunications Minister of France June 22, 1969–5. July 1972	Hubert Germain
François-Xavier Ortoli	Housing Minister of France May 31, 1968-10. July 1968	Albin Chalandon