Marcel-François Astier (7 January 1885 – 21 September 1947) was a French politician.
Born in
Privas
Privas (; oc, Privàs , also ) is a city located in France, in the department of Ardèche.
With its 8,465 inhabitants (2019), it is the least populated prefecture (capital of a department).
It was the location of the 1629 Siege of Priva ...
(
Ardèche
Ardèche (; oc, Ardecha; frp, Ardecha) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. It is named after the river Ardèche and had a population of 328,278 as of 2019.François Astier. He studied law and medicine and managed the familial vineyards. This work led him into politics where he became a leader in several agricultural groups, including that devoted to the support of French
sericulture
Sericulture, or silk farming, is the cultivation of silkworms to produce silk. Although there are several commercial species of silkworms, ''Bombyx mori'' (the caterpillar of the domestic silkmoth) is the most widely used and intensively studie ...
.
He became mayor of
Soyons
Soyons (; oc, Soions) is a commune in the Ardèche department in southern France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territori ...
and in 1924 was elected as for the Radical Party to the
Chamber of Deputies
The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures.
Description
Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...
representing Ardèche. He served only a single term, being defeated in 1928. In 1938 he was reelected, this time to the
Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
.
He was among the eighty who voted against granting special powers 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 ...
on 10 July 1940, ending his speech "Long live the Republic all the same!" («Vive la République quand même!»). He engaged in 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 ...
, reestablishing a clandestine organisation for the Radical Party in Ardèche. In 1943 he travelled to
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, joining 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 ...
established by the CFLN where he headed the agriculture commission.
After the liberation he stood in the 1945 elections but was not successful and retired from politics.
He died at his home in Soyons.