Marcel Peyrouton (2 July 1887 – 6 November 1983) was a French diplomat and politician. He served as the French Minister of the Interior from 1940 to 1941, during
Vichy France
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 te ...
. He served as the French Ambassador to Argentina from 1936 to 1940, and from 1941 to 1942. He served as the Governor-General of
French Algeria in 1943. He was acquitted in 1948.
Early life
Marcel Peyrouton was born in 1887.
He received a Doctorate in Law from the
University of Paris
, image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg
, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of Arms
, latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis
, motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin)
, mottoeng = Here and a ...
.
His thesis was entitled ''Étude sur les monopoles en Indochine''.
In 1910 he entered the central administration of the Colonies as a trainee.
In 1914, Mr. Peyrouton was administrator of the Colonies. He joined the army as a sergeant in an infantry regiment. He was wounded on August 24 in the battle of Préjanville
ossibly during the Battle of the Trouée de Charmes He went into the air force and continued his services as a pilot-aviator in the squadrons of the front, in the Vosges, then in Syria. He was demobilized with the rank of lieutenant-pilot-aviator. During his service he was awarded the
Croix de Guerre with two citations.
Career
After the war Mr. Peyrouton was assigned to Madagascar as deputy director of the civil cabinet of the Governor General of this Colony, then was delegate of the Commissioner of the Republic in Cameroon. He was appointed Chief Administrator of the Colonies in 1923. In 1925, he was director of the Economic Agency of the African territories under mandate, then, in 1928, fulfilled the functions of the deputy chief of the cabinet of the Minister of the Colonies. He was Appointed Governor of the Colonies in 1929 and served as lieutenant-governor of the Middle Congo. In 1929 he was named an officer of the
Legion of Honor.
The award is seen in the picture from the 1930s accompanying this article
Peyrouton next served as the Secretary General of
French Algeria from 1931 to 1933, and as the Resident-General of Tunisia from 1933 to 1936.
He served as the French Ambassador to Argentina from 1936 to 1940.
Peyrouton served as the French Minister of the Interior from 1940 to 1941, during
Vichy France
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 te ...
.
He served as the French Ambassador to Argentina once again from 1941 to 1942.
Peyrouton was appointed as the Governor-General of French Algeria in January 1943.
While American Jewish organizations objected to his appointment due to his recent Vichy past, US Ambassador
Robert Daniel Murphy
Robert Daniel Murphy (October 28, 1894 – January 9, 1978) was an American diplomat. He served as the first United States Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs when the position was established during the Eisenhower administration.
E ...
suggested Peyrouton was not antisemitic.
Peyrouton resigned in June. In letters to Generals
de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (; ; (commonly abbreviated as CDG) 22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French army officer and statesman who led Free France against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Governm ...
and
Giraud he requested that he be allowed to serve as a captain in the infantry, the rank he held in the army reserve. His offer was accepted but he was arrested
preventively on December 22, 1943 on orders from the Committee of National Liberation.
Peyrouton gave evidence at
Pétain's trial chiefly on the arrest of
Laval. He was acquitted by the
High Court on December 22, 1948. The court found that he had made serious mistakes but these were mitigated by his subsequent efforts to resist the Germans.
The Legion of Honor Leonore database
Leonore database
/ref> of recipients contains no informaion on Mr. Peyrouton suggesting that his award was revoked presumably in response to his collaboration with Germany.
Personal life and death
Peyrouton married Paulette Malvy, the daughter of politician Louis Malvy
Louis-Jean Malvy (1 December 1875 – 10 June 1949) was the Interior Minister of France in 1914.
Biography
Louis-Jean Malvy was born on 1 December 1875 in Figeac.
Career
Malvy was a member of the Radical Party and served in the Chamber of Depu ...
. He died on 6 November 1983, aged 96.
Works
Peyrouton, Marcel (1913). ''Étude sur les Monopoles en Indochine'' (Paris: E. Larose).
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References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Peyrouton, Marcel
1887 births
1983 deaths
University of Paris alumni
People of Vichy France
French interior ministers
Ambassadors of France to Argentina
French non-fiction writers
20th-century non-fiction writers
Governors general of Algeria