Gaston Monnerville (2 January 1897 – 7 November 1991) was a French Radical politician and lawyer who served as the first President of the Senate under the Fifth Republic from 1958 to 1968. He previously served as President of the Council of the Republic from 1947 to 1958. A member of 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 ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he is the first black person to preside over a national parliamentary body in French history.

Early life

The grandson of a slave, Monnerville grew up in

French Guiana French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label=French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic coast of South America in the Guianas. ...

and went to

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Pa ...

to complete his studies. A brilliant student, he became a lawyer in 1918 and worked with

César Campinchi César Campinchi (May 4, 1882 in Calcatoggio, Corse-du-Sud – February 22, 1941 in Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône) was a lawyer and French statesman in the beginning of the 20th century. Campinchi was president of the '' Association générale ...

, a lawyer who later became an influential politician.

Political and military career

After joining the Radical Party, Monnerville was elected a member of the Chamber of Deputies for

in 1932. He was reelected in 1936. He was Undersecretary of State for Colonies in the government of Prime Minister Camille Chautemps of 1937–1938.

WWII and French Resistance

During the first part of

, he served in the

French Navy The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...

, on the battleship ''

Provence Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...

''. He was not demobilized until 17 July 1940, well after the French defeat by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

, and therefore did not vote on the grant of dictatorial powers to

Marshal Pétain Marshal is a term used in several official titles in various branches of society. As marshals became trusted members of the courts of Medieval Europe, the title grew in reputation. During the last few centuries, it has been used for elevated o ...

. He protested against the

armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from the ...

signed by Pétain, and complained about the treatment of French colonial subjects by Petain's

Vichy Vichy (, ; ; oc, Vichèi, link=no, ) is a city in the Allier department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of central France, in the historic province of Bourbonnais. It is a spa and resort town and in World War II was the capital of ...

government. In late 1940, he joined '' Combat'', one of the major groups in the resistance. As a lawyer in

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...

, in unoccupied France, he defended persons arrested or persecuted by the Vichy government for their opinions or racial origin. For this he was repeatedly threatened or arrested by the Vichy police. When Germany occupied the rest of France in 1942, he went underground and joined the ''

Maquis Maquis may refer to: Resistance groups * Maquis (World War II), predominantly rural guerrilla bands of the French Resistance * Spanish Maquis, guerrillas who fought against Francoist Spain in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War * The network ...

'' of

Auvergne Auvergne (; ; oc, label= Occitan, Auvèrnhe or ) is a former administrative region in central France, comprising the four departments of Allier, Puy-de-Dôme, Cantal and Haute-Loire. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region Au ...

, as "Commandant St-Just". He and his wife Cheylade established a military hospital in June 1944. That fall he was demobilized, before was appointed by the Radical Party to sit in 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 ...

of the restored government.

Postwar political career

In 1945, he was appointed chairman of a commission to determine the future status of the

French colonies From the 16th to the 17th centuries, the First French colonial empire stretched from a total area at its peak in 1680 to over , the second largest empire in the world at the time behind only the Spanish Empire. During the 19th and 20th centuri ...

. In October 1945, he was elected Delegate from French Guiana to the

First Constituent Assembly First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

of the Fourth Republic, and to the Second Constituent Assembly in April 1946. Also in 1946, he was a French delegate to the first session of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

. He was defeated for election to the Third Constituent Assembly in November 1946, in part because some Guianese objected to his efforts to close the prison colony of Devil's Island. Instead he was named to the

Council of the Republic of France The Council of the Republic (french: Conseil de la République) was the upper house of the French parliament under the Fourth Republic, with the National Assembly being the lower house. It was established by the Constitution of 1946, dissolved ...

(the Senate), which was being reconstituted by appointments. He was immediately elected President of this Council, and became one of the most active members of the Senate. In March 1947, he was chosen President of the Council, by a vote of 141 to 131 over the Communist candidate. In 1948, he changed his residence from Guiana to

Lot Lot or LOT or The Lot or ''similar'' may refer to: Common meanings Areas * Land lot, an area of land * Parking lot, for automobiles *Backlot, in movie production Sets of items *Lot number, in batch production *Lot, a set of goods for sale togethe ...

, and was elected Senator there. He served as Senator from Lot and President of the Council until the end of the Fourth Republic in 1958. In 1958, Monnerville supported Charles de Gaulle in returning to power, but he objected to De Gaulle's dissolution of the Fourth Republic. However, when the Fifth Republic was established, he resumed his place in the Senate (now called by that name); he was elected President of the Senate (the second highest-ranking official in France after the President) in 1959, serving until 1968. In 1962, he famously opposed the referendum altering the constitution for changing the method of election of the president to a direct election, instead of an electoral college, on grounds that the method for constitutional amendments was not respected, a reform strongly desired by Charles de Gaulle. The

Constitutional Council Constitutional Council might refer to: * Constitutional Council (Chad) * Constitutional Council (France) * Constitutional Council (Ivory Coast) * Constitutional Council (Sri Lanka) * Constitutional Council (Cambodia) * Constitutional Council (Kaz ...

however ruled itself "incompetent" to strike down a reform voted by the French people. He went as far as to use the strong word of ''forfaiture'' ("abuse of authority") against the behaviour of Prime Minister

Georges Pompidou Georges Jean Raymond Pompidou ( , ; 5 July 19112 April 1974) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1969 until his death in 1974. He previously was Prime Minister of France of President Charles de Gaulle from 1962 to 196 ...

, who had accepted to sign the referendum project.Decree 62-1127 of 2 October 1962
preceded by a letter from Prime Minister

to President Charles de Gaulle proposing him to submit to a referendum. Following article 11 of the Constitution, a bill changing the method for electing the President of France. From 1974 to 1983, he was a member of the

Constitutional Council of France The Constitutional Council (french: Conseil constitutionnel; ) is the highest constitutional authority in France. It was established by the Constitution of the Fifth Republic on 4 October 1958 to ensure that constitutional principles and rules ...

References

External link

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Monnerville, Gaston 1897 births 1991 deaths People from Cayenne Black French politicians French Guianan politicians Radical Party (France) politicians University of Toulouse alumni 20th-century French lawyers Members of the 15th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Members of the 16th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic French Senators of the Fourth Republic French Senators of the Fifth Republic Presidents of the Senate (France) French Resistance members French Freemasons French military personnel of World War II French people of Martiniquais descent French people of French Guianan descent Members of Parliament for French Guiana Senators of French Guiana Senators of Lot (department) Officiers of the Légion d'honneur Departmental councillors (France) Presidents of French departments Deaths in Paris