Léon Solomiac (19 October 1873 in

Cajarc Cajarc () is a commune in the Lot department, Occitania, France. It is a stopping place on the Via podiensis, the medieval pilgrimage route from Le Puy-en-Velay to Santiago de Compostela, but also attracts tourists on account of its medieval to ...

– 10 May 1960 in

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions I ...

) was a colonial administrator in various colonies of the

French Colonial Empire The French colonial empire () comprised the overseas colonies, protectorates and mandate territories that came under French rule from the 16th century onward. A distinction is generally made between the "First French Colonial Empire", that exist ...

Life

Solomiac was a son of a

shopkeeper A shopkeeper is a retail merchant or tradesman; one who owns or operates a small store or shop. Generally, shop employees are not shopkeepers, but are often incorrectly referred to as such. At larger companies, a shopkeeper is usually referred t ...

. In the course of his career in the French colonial service, he was appointed in July 1925 as a delegate in Beirut then in 1930 in Damascus, during the

French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon The Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon (french: Mandat pour la Syrie et le Liban; ar, الانتداب الفرنسي على سوريا ولبنان, al-intidāb al-fransi 'ala suriya wa-lubnān) (1923−1946) was a League of Nations mandate fou ...

. After the deposition of

Taj al-Din al-Hasani Taj al-Din al-Hasani ( ar, تاج الدين الحسني, Tāj ad-Dīn al-Ḥasanī; 1885 – 17 January 1943) was a French-appointed Syrian leader and politician. He was born and raised into a family of Muslim scholars in Damascus. His father ...

, Solomiac officiated on 19 November 1931 as head of state of the Syrian Republic until 11 June 1932, when Mohammed Ali al-Abed was elected by the Syrian Parliament to the presidency. Later on, Solomiac went to Africa in which he became the governor of

French Sudan French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with France ...

from 22 May to 30 November 1933 on an interim basis. On 15 August 1934 he became the successor of François Adrien Juvanon as a governor of

French India French India, formally the ( en, French Settlements in India), was a French colony comprising five geographically separated enclaves on the Indian Subcontinent that had initially been factories of the French East India Company. They were ''de ...

, he held this position until October 1936. On 21 April 1939 he became the Governor-General of

French Equatorial Africa French Equatorial Africa (french: link=no, Afrique-Équatoriale française), or the AEF, was the federation of French colonial possessions in Equatorial Africa, extending northwards from the Congo River into the Sahel, and comprising what are ...

, he remained in office until 3 September 1939. On 7 November 1940 Solomiac took over from Jean Alexandre Léon Rapenne the interim post of Governor of

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesVichy regime 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 ...

as being not loyal to them, and was replaced on 8 December 1940 by General Maurice Falvy. In August 1944, Léon Solomiac was entrusted with the management of official duties of the prefecture of Tarn. He was the "Prefect of the

Libération ''Libération'' (), popularly known as ''Libé'' (), is a daily newspaper in France, founded in Paris by Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge July in 1973 in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968. Initially positioned on the far-left of France's ...

", replacing a prefect appointed by the Vichy regime in July 1944, and was in office until early 1946.

References

1873 births 1960 deaths Colonial Governors of French Mali Colonial Governors of French Niger French colonial governors and administrators Governors of French Equatorial Africa Governors of French India People of French West Africa {{France-politician-stub