Eugène Claudius-Petit was a French politician. He participated in many governments under the Fourth Republic and was a proponent of
Firminy Vert Firminy Vert (lit. "Green Firminy") is group of modern buildings designed by architect Le Corbusier located in Firminy, France in 1964–1969. It includes the Saint-Pierre Church, a stadium, a cultural center, and an '' Unité d'Habitation''. It wa ...
. He later added his pseudonym from the
Resistance, "Claudius", to his name.
Early life and career
He born on May 22, 1907, in
Angers
Angers (, , ) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Anjou until the French Revolution. The inhabitants of both the city and the prov ...
and died on October 24, 1989, in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
.
The son of a railway worker, he attended primary school in his hometown and then became an apprentice and made his tour of France as a journeyman. He worked for a cabinetmaker in Paris and then joined the Rambault Furniture Company in
Angers
Angers (, , ) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Anjou until the French Revolution. The inhabitants of both the city and the prov ...
. He took courses in the hopes of becoming an art teacher. He later became anarchist in his political views and campaigned briefly in the libertarian movement. He also hosted a local union CGTU then joined after a meeting with
Marc Sangnier
Marc Sangnier (; 3 April 1873, Paris – 28 May 1950, Paris) was a French Roman Catholic thinker and politician, who in 1894 founded ''Le Sillon'' ("The Furrow"), a social Catholic movement.
Work
Sangnier aimed to bring the Catholic Church in ...
.
He joined the
French Resistance
The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...
under the name Claudius. In 1942, he was part of the executive committee of Free Marksman in which Peter Degon later joined. In 1943 he became a founding member of the CNR where he represented the MUR (United Movements of Resistance). He left France for London and Algiers, where he was a delegate to the
Provisional Consultative Assembly
The Provisional Consultative Assembly (french: Assemblée consultative provisoire) was a governmental organ of Free France that operated under the aegis of the French Committee of National Liberation (CFLN) and that represented the resist ...
. After moving back to Paris, he chaired the National Liberation Movement.
He became a Companion of the Liberation, and was awarded 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 ...
and the
Legion of Honor
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 ...
.
Political career
Claudius-Petit was elected as Member of the Loire to the first and second National Constituent Assembly and the
National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...
from 1946 to 1955 under the
Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance
The Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance (french: Union démocratique et socialiste de la Résistance or UDSR) was a French political party founded after the liberation of France from German occupation and mainly active during the Fo ...
(UDSR) party.
During the Fourth and the Fifth Republic, Claudius-Petit, who believed that politics was a struggle for "those who have nothing," became one of the central figures of modernist and social centrism. Appointed
Minister of Reconstruction and Urbanism September 11, 1948, he led a broad policy and planning team in France after the war that repaired the damage of the conflict and dealt with housing shortages without precedent.
In February 1950, he appeared before the Council of Ministers to publish a pamphlet for national land use which is considered the founding manifesto of the policy conducted during the next half-century. To combat the excessive inequalities of settlement and activity, while balancing housing to industrial needs, Claudius-Petit advocated for a significant commitment in investment and regulation.
He was then
Minister of Labour and Social Security from June 19 to September 3, 1954 under the government of
Pierre Mendès France
Pierre Isaac Isidore Mendès France (; 11 January 190718 October 1982) was a French politician who served as prime minister of France for eight months from 1954 to 1955. As a member of the Radical Party, he headed a government supported by a co ...
before becoming the interim
Minister of Housing from August 14 to September 3, 1954. He resigned after the rejection of the EDC.
In the Ministry of Housing, he filed bills related to the acquisition of residential and industrial equipment, the procedure for codification of legislative texts concerning town planning and housing. He fought against slums.
Defeated in the 1956 election, he found his seat in the National Assembly from 1958 to 1962 and from 1967 to 1978 under various centrist roles.
From its inception in 1956 to 1977, he directed Sonacotra, the National Society for construction workers (Sonacotral, National Society of Algerian workers to build up the Evian agreements of 1962) Senior Manager of migrant workers' hostels in France.
He was a practicing Catholic, a fact reflected by his speech on the final day of the debate on the legalization of abortion in France, December 19, 1974: "In conclusion, and precisely because I did not let my spiritual beliefs at the door, I can not get rid of the solidarity that binds me to the society in which I live. To obey my demands, I am with those who suffer most, with those convicted as with those who are despised the most (...) Because of that, because of Him, I take my share of burden. I will fight against everything that leads to abortion, but I will vote for the law".
Firminy-Vert
As a friend of
Le Corbusier
Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , , ), was a Swiss-French architect, designer, painter, urban planner, writer, and one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture. He was ...
, he embarked on a massive renovation of the town of
Firminy
Firminy (; oc, Frominiu) is a commune in the Loire department in central France.
It lies on the river Ondaine, 13 km southwest of Saint-Étienne by rail.
History
The ancient name of the town was ''Firminiaco'' or ''Firminiacus'' (lit. " ...
. Elected mayor in 1953, he dreamed of building next to the city, "a city of the twentieth century to the best of his time," a kind of small
Brasilia, a compendium of modern architecture. In 1955, he governed several buildings by Le Corbusier, including a house of Culture, a "radiant city", a stage and the Church of St. Peter.
Honors
* Commander of the Legion of Honor
* Companion of the Liberation - Decree of 19 October 1945
* Croix de Guerre 1939-1945 (2 citations)
* Médaille de la Résistance with Rosette
* Commander of Mérite Social
* Commander of the Rose blanche de Finlande
* Grand Officer of Ouissam Alaouite
Tributes
* A dead-end road at
Saint-Étienne
Saint-Étienne (; frp, Sant-Etiève; oc, Sant Estève, ) is a city and the prefecture of the Loire department in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.
Saint-Étienne is the t ...
, bears his name.
* An avenue at Bourges bears his name.
* A street in Angers is named after him.
* A district in the 14th arrondissement of Paris bears his name: Place Eugène Claudius-Petit
* His "attic" (chalet in Courchevel) called "The Pin" became a historical monument since 23 January 2006
Bibliography
* « Pour un plan national d'aménagement du territoire », ''Les grands textes de l'aménagement du territoire et de la décentralisation''. Christel Alvergne, Pierre Musso,
DATAR
DATAR, short for ''Digital Automated Tracking and Resolving'', was a pioneering computerized battlefield information system. DATAR combined the data from all of the sensors in a naval task force into a single "overall view" that was then transmi ...
(Avant-propos de Jean-Pierre Raffarin, Premier ministre), 2004,
* Benoît Pouvreau, Danièle Voldman, Un politique en architecture : Eugène Claudius-Petit (1907-1989), préf. de Dominique Claudius-Petit, éd. Le Moniteur, coll. « Architextes », 2004, 358 p., ()
* Pouvreau Benedict, ""La politique d'aménagement du territoire d'Eugène Claudius-Petit" in XX (magazine), No. 79 -2003 / 3, p. 43-5
* "Hommage à Eugène Claudius-Petit, fondateur du corps des architectes-conseils de l'État", Thotm, 2007, 36 p
link
Biography at the National Assembly
References
* 3ème séance du jeudi 28 novembre 1974
rchive* Nom des rues de Saint-Etienne
rchive* http://www.parcoursinventaire.rhonealpes.fr/stationski/-La-Goupille-le-grenier-d-Eugene-.html
rchiveDescription de « La Goupille »,
{{DEFAULTSORT:Claudius-Petit, Eugene
1907 births
1989 deaths
People from Maine-et-Loire
French Roman Catholics
Politicians from Pays de la Loire
Young Republic League politicians
Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance politicians
Centre Democracy and Progress politicians
French Ministers of Labour and Social Affairs
Members of the Constituent Assembly of France (1945)
Members of the Constituent Assembly of France (1946)
Deputies of the 1st National Assembly of the French Fourth Republic
Deputies of the 2nd National Assembly of the French Fourth Republic
Deputies of the 3rd National Assembly of the French Fourth Republic
Deputies of the 1st National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic
Deputies of the 3rd National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic
Deputies of the 4th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic
Deputies of the 5th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic
French Resistance members
Companions of the Liberation
Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France)
Recipients of the Resistance Medal
Recipients of the Legion of Honour