Jean Filippi (5 October 1905 – 15 January 1993) was a French politician. Born in Geneva, Switzerland, to a French diplomat, he belonged to the

Radical Party (France) The Republican, Radical and Radical-Socialist Party (french: Parti républicain, radical et radical-socialiste) is a liberal and formerly social-liberal political party in France. It is also often referred to simply as the Radical Party (french: ...

. From 1930 onwards Filippi worked as a finance inspector for the Inspectorate General of Finances. Filippi then worked as the secretary of

SNCF The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (; abbreviated as SNCF ; French for "National society of French railroads") is France's national state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the country's national rail traffi ...

, the French national railway. In March 1940 Filippi became chief of cabinet to Yves Bouthillier, the Minister of Finance, a position he remained in following the defeat of France at the hands of Germany and into the period of 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 July 1941, he was appointed as the secretary-general of economic affairs, and in 1942 returned to head SNCF until September 1944. Filippi avoided being purged as a collaborator as he was able to show that when working with SNCF he had helped 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 ...

. In December 1944 he was hired to work in General Koeltz's Military Mission for German Affairs and took part in the administration of French-occupied Germany. Between 1956 and 1957, he was France's minister of Budget. From 1955 until 1980, he was a Senator of Corsica. When

Lyndon Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

claimed that

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

was Italian, Filippi criticised this saying that “It's a stupidity,” and said that Bonaparte “had the same right to be called a Frenchman as I have.”

References

1905 births 1993 deaths Corsican politicians French Ministers of Budget French Senators of the Fourth Republic French Senators of the Fifth Republic Senators of Corsica {{France-politician-RPV-stub