Ouest-Eclair_-_8_mai_1936_-_Alphonse_Gasnier-Duparc

Alphonse Henri Gasnier-Duparc (21 June 1879,

Dol-de-Bretagne Dol-de-Bretagne (, literally ''Dol of Brittany''; br, Dol; Gallo: ''Dóu''), cited in most historical records under its Breton name of Dol, is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine ''département'' in Brittany in northwestern France. Geography Dol-d ...

– 10 October 1945,

Saint-Malo Saint-Malo (, , ; Gallo: ; ) is a historic French port in Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany, on the English Channel coast. The walled city had a long history of piracy, earning much wealth from local extortion and overseas adventures. In 1944, the Alli ...

) was a French politician. He served as mayor of

, senator for

Ille-et-Vilaine Ille-et-Vilaine (; br, Il-ha-Gwilen) is a department of France, located in the region of Brittany in the northwest of the country. It is named after the two rivers of the Ille and the Vilaine. It had a population of 1,079,498 in 2019.

(1932-1940) and Naval Minister. He was a member of the

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

, the

Croix de Guerre The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awa ...

, the Mérite maritime, the

Mérite agricole The Order of Agricultural Merit (french: link=no, Ordre du Mérite agricole) is an order of merit bestowed by the French Republic for outstanding contributions to agriculture. When it was created in 1883, it was second in importance only to the ...

and the

Palmes académiques Palmes is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Sir Brian Palmes, English landowner and politician *Sir Guy Palmes, English politician * Brian Palmes MP *Lieutenant General Francis Palmes Lieutenant-General Francis Palmes MP ( ...

Life

The son of Alphonse Charles and Anne Marie Antoinette Robidou,Acte de Naissance n°64 archives Ille-et-Vilaine he studied in Saint-Malo then at the law faculty of the Université de Rennes before becoming a lawyer in Saint-Malo. In 1908, he was elected as a conseiller municipal of Saint-Malo; in 1910, as a conseiller d'arrondissement; in 1913, as a conseiller général ; in 1930, as vice-president of the Conseil général, then as its president from 1935 to 1937. He became mayor of Saint-Malo on 19 May 1912 and held the post until 3 July 1941, when he was dismissed from the post by the occupying German forces. The town was destroyed during its liberation in late August and early September 1944 and in November 1944 he became president of the special delegation managing it. At the senate elections on 12 June 1932, he was elected on the second ballot by 568 votes to 534, out of 1,103 voting. He was re-elected in the triennial elections on 12 January 1933, when he won by 563 votes to 549, out of 1,103 voting. He was a member of the radical-socialist party and aligned with the democratic left party, sitting in the senate until 1940. He was made Naval Minister in the first Blum ministry of the

Popular Front A popular front is "any coalition of working-class and middle-class parties", including liberal and social democratic ones, "united for the defense of democratic forms" against "a presumed Fascist assault". More generally, it is "a coalition ...

, taking up the role on 4 June 1936, with M. Blancho as under-secretary of state for the navy. After that cabinet's fall in June 1937, he resumed his seat in the Senate. He voted for the constitutional law of 10 July 1940 granting full power to marshal

Philippe Pétain Henri Philippe Benoni Omer Pétain (24 April 1856 – 23 July 1951), commonly known as Philippe Pétain (, ) or Marshal Pétain (french: Maréchal Pétain), was a French general who attained the position of Marshal of France at the end of World ...

References

Sources

*"Alphonse Gasnier-Duparc", in ''Dictionnaire des parlementaires français (1889-1940)'', Jean Jolly (ed.), PUF, 1960
Biography on the Senat.fr site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gasnier-Duparc, Alphonse 1879 births 1945 deaths French Senators of the Third Republic French Naval Ministers People from Ille-et-Vilaine Senators of Ille-et-Vilaine Politicians from Brittany