Henri Roy (17 February 1873 – 23 August 1950) was a French politician who was deputy for

Loiret Loiret (; ) is a department in the Centre-Val de Loire region of north-central France. It takes its name from the river Loiret, which is contained wholly within the department. In 2019, Loiret had a population of 680,434.

from 1906 to 1919 and senator for Loiret from 1920 to 1941. He was Minister of Public Works in 1934–35, and was briefly Minister of the Interior in 1940.

Life

Henri Roy was born on 17 February 1873 in Le Bouchaud, Jura, son of a school teacher in the small town. He won a scholarship to the ''lycée'' in

Lons-le-Saunier Lons-le-Saunier () is a Communes of France, commune and capital of the Jura (department), Jura Department, eastern France. Geography The town is in the heart of the Revermont region, at the foot of the first plateau of the Jura massif. The Jur ...

, then entered the lycée Lakanal, and went on to the

Collège Sainte-Barbe The Collège Sainte-Barbe is a former college in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, France. The Collège Sainte-Barbe was founded in 1460 on Montagne Sainte-Geneviève (Latin Quarter, Paris) by Pierre Antoine Victor de Lanneau, teacher of religiou ...

in Paris, where he prepared for teachers' college. There he met Jérôme and

Jean Tharaud Jean Tharaud (9 May 1877 – 8 April 1952) was a French writer. Tharaud was born in Saint-Junien, Haute-Vienne. As a young man, he had been secretary to Maurice Barrès. He wrote books with his brother, Jérôme Tharaud, for over 50 years. In ...

and

Charles Péguy Charles Pierre Péguy (; 7 January 1873 – 5 September 1914) was a French poet, essayist, and editor. His two main philosophies were socialism and nationalism. By 1908 at the latest, after years of uneasy agnosticism, he had become a believing b ...

, with whom he formed a lasting friendship. He lost interest in becoming a teacher, but gained degrees in letters and the law. The

Dreyfus affair The Dreyfus affair (french: affaire Dreyfus, ) was a political scandal that divided the French Third Republic from 1894 until its resolution in 1906. "L'Affaire", as it is known in French, has come to symbolise modern injustice in the Francop ...

gave him an interest in politics, and for two months he contributed to the journal ''La Volonté'' that Franklin Bouillon and Pierre Baudin had founded in 1897. He then accepted the job of chief editor of the radical

Orléans Orléans (;"Orleans"
(US) and World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

(1914–18) he was appointed Commissioner of Supply by

Georges Clemenceau Georges Benjamin Clemenceau (, also , ; 28 September 1841 – 24 November 1929) was a French statesman who served as Prime Minister of France from 1906 to 1909 and again from 1917 until 1920. A key figure of the Independent Radicals, he was a ...

on 15 July 1919. On 16 November 1919 he lost his seat in the general election. In January 1920 Roy was elected to the Senate, where he joined the Democratic Left group. He was reelected in 1924 and 1928, and was rapporteur of the budget in 1932 and 1933. He joined the Board of Directors of the National Board of liquid fuels, of which he became president in 1932. On 8 November 1934 he joined the cabinet of

Pierre-Étienne Flandin Pierre-Étienne Flandin (; 12 April 1889 – 13 June 1958) was a French conservative politician of the Third Republic, leader of the Democratic Republican Alliance (ARD), and Prime Minister of France from 8 November 1934 to 31 May 1935. A milit ...

Minister of Public Works This list indicates government departments in various countries dedicated to public works or infrastructure. See also * Public works * Ministry or Board of Public Works, the imperial Chinese ministry overseeing public projects from the Tang ...

, holding office until 31 May 1935. On 31 May 1935 he was reelected to the Senate, and was elected vice-president of the Senate from 1936 to 1940. During

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 ...

(1939–45) he joined the cabinet of

Paul Reynaud Paul Reynaud (; 15 October 1878 – 21 September 1966) was a French politician and lawyer prominent in the interwar period, noted for his stances on economic liberalism and militant opposition to Germany. Reynaud opposed the Munich Agreement of ...

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

from 21 March 1940 to 18 May 1940. On 10 July 1940 he voted for the constitutional law that gave 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 ...

. In 1941 he refused to accept the seat that was offered to him by the

Vichy government Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its terr ...

in the National Council. After the war the jury of honor removed the ineligibility that resulted from his positive vote of 10 July 1940. He retired from public life, and died in Paris on 23 August 1950 at the age of 77.

Publications

Notes

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Roy, Henri 1873 births 1950 deaths People from Jura (department) Politicians from Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Radical Party (France) politicians French Ministers of Public Works French interior ministers Members of the 9th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Members of the 10th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Members of the 11th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic French Senators of the Third Republic Senators of Loiret