Maurice Couve de Murville - Ben Gurion 1960

Jacques-Maurice Couve de Murville (; 24 January 1907 – 24 December 1999) was a French diplomat and politician who was

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

from 1958 to 1968 and

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

from 1968 to 1969 under the presidency of

General 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 Government ...

. As foreign minister he played the leading role in the critical Franco-German treaty of cooperation in 1963, he laid the foundation for the Paris-Bonn axis that was central in building a united Europe.

Life

He was born Maurice Couve (his father acquired the name de Murville in 1925Obituary: Maurice Couve de Murville
,

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

, 27 December 1999) in

Reims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded by ...

Maurice Couve de Murville Jacques-Maurice Couve de Murville (; 24 January 1907 – 24 December 1999) was a French diplomat and politician who was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1958 to 1968 and Prime Minister from 1968 to 1969 under the presidency of General de Gaull ...

, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

(1929–2007), was his cousin. Couve de Murville joined the corps of finance inspectors in 1930, and in 1940 became Director of External Finances of the

Vichy Vichy (, ; ; oc, Vichèi, link=no, ) is a city in the Allier Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of central France, in the historic province of Bourbonnais. It is a Spa town, spa and resort town and in World ...

régime, in which capacity he sat at the armistice council of Wiesbaden. In March 1943, after the American landing in North Africa, he was one of the few senior officials of Vichy to join the

Free French Free France (french: France Libre) was a political entity that claimed to be the legitimate government of France following the dissolution of the Third Republic. Led by French general , Free France was established as a government-in-exile ...

. He left for

Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...

, via Spain, where he joined General

Henri Giraud Henri Honoré Giraud (18 January 1879 – 11 March 1949) was a French general and a leader of the Free French Forces during the Second World War until he was forced to retire in 1944. Born to an Alsatian family in Paris, Giraud graduated from ...

. On 7 June 1943, he was named commissioner of finance of the

French Committee of National Liberation The French Committee of National Liberation (french: Comité français de Libération nationale) was a provisional government of Free France formed by the French generals Henri Giraud and Charles de Gaulle to provide united leadership, organiz ...

(CFLN). A few months later, he joined General Charles de Gaulle. In February 1945, he became a member of the Provisional Government of the French Republic (GPRF) with the rank of ambassador attached to the Italian government. After the war, he occupied several posts as French Ambassador, in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

(1950 to 1954), at

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

(1954), in

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

(1955 to 1956) and in

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

(1956 to 1958). When General de Gaulle returned to power in 1958, he became

Foreign Minister A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

, a post he retained for ten years until the reshuffle that followed the events of

May 1968 The following events occurred in May 1968: May 1, 1968 (Wednesday) *CARIFTA, the Caribbean Free Trade Association, was formally created as an agreement between Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Guyana, and Trinidad and Tobago. *RAF Strike Co ...

where he replaced

Finance minister A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

Michel Debré Michel Jean-Pierre Debré (; 15 January 1912 – 2 August 1996) was the first Prime Minister of the French Fifth Republic. He is considered the "father" of the current Constitution of France. He served under President Charles de Gaulle from 1959 ...

, keeping this post only a short time: very soon after the elections, he became a transitional Prime Minister, replacing

Georges Pompidou Georges Jean Raymond Pompidou ( , ; 5 July 19112 April 1974) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1969 until his death in 1974. He previously was Prime Minister of France of President Charles de Gaulle from 1962 to 196 ...

. The following year he was succeeded by

Jacques Chaban-Delmas Jacques Chaban-Delmas (; 7 March 1915 – 10 November 2000) was a French Gaullist politician. He served as Prime Minister under Georges Pompidou from 1969 to 1972. He was the Mayor of Bordeaux from 1947 to 1995 and a deputy for the Gironde ''d� ...

. Couve de Murville continued his political career first as a UDR deputy, then RPR deputy for Paris until 1986, then as a

senator 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 ...

until 1995. He died in Paris at the age of 92 from natural causes.

Published works

* ''Une politique étrangère, 1958–1969'' (1971). ISBN unknown * ''Le Monde en face'' (1989).

Political career

Governmental functions Prime minister : 1968–1969 Minister of Foreign Affairs : 1958–1968 Minister of Economy and Finance : May–July 1968 Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Assembly 1973–1981. Electoral mandates Member of the

National Assembly of France The National Assembly (french: link=no, italics=set, Assemblée nationale; ) is the lower house of the bicameral French Parliament under the Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are known a ...

for Paris : June 1968 (He left his seat when he became a minister) / 1973–1986 Senator of Paris : 1986–1995

Couve de Murville's Government

The cabinet from 10 July 1968 – 20 June 1969 *Maurice Couve de Murville – Prime Minister *

– Minister of Foreign Affairs *

Pierre Messmer Pierre Joseph Auguste Messmer (; 20 March 191629 August 2007) was a French Gaullist politician. He served as Minister of Armies under Charles de Gaulle from 1960 to 1969 – the longest serving since Étienne François, duc de Choiseul under L ...

– Minister of Armies *

Raymond Marcellin Raymond Marcellin (19 August 1914 in Sézanne, Marne – 8 September 2004) was a French politician. Biography The son of a banker, he studied law at the University of Strasbourg and the University of Paris. He worked as a lawyer for three ye ...

– Minister of the Interior, Public Health, and Population *

François-Xavier Ortoli François-Xavier Ortoli (; 16 February 1925 – 30 November 2007) was a French politician who served as the 5th President of the European Commission from 1973 to 1977. He served as Minister of the Economy of France from 1968 to 1969. Ortoli ...

– Minister of Economy and Finance *

André Bettencourt André Bettencourt (; 21 April 1919 – 19 November 2007) was a French politician. He was awarded the Croix de Guerre, and was a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor. He had been a member of La Cagoule, a violent French fascist-leaning and anti- ...

– Minister of Industry *

Joseph Fontanet Joseph Fontanet (9 February 1921, Frontenex, Savoie – 2 February 1980, Paris) was a French politician. He was first elected to Parliament in 1956 as MP for Savoie Savoie (; Arpitan: ''Savouè'' or ''Savouè-d'Avâl''; English: ''Savoy'' ...

– Minister of Labour, Employment, and Population *

René Capitant René Marie Alphonse Charles Capitant (19 August 1901 in La Tronche, Isère – 23 May 1970 in Suresnes) was a French lawyer and politician. He was the son of a lawyer, Henri Capitant, and attended the Lycée Henri-IV in Paris. He received ...

– Minister of Justice *

Edgar Faure Edgar Jean Faure (; 18 August 1908 – 30 March 1988) was a French politician, lawyer, essayist, historian and memoirist who served as Prime Minister of France in 1952 and again between 1955 and 1956.Henri Duvillard Henri Duvillard (born 23 December 1947) is a French former alpine ski racer. He is one of just seven men to win World Cup races in every discipline contested at the time. Duvillard competed at the 1972 Olympics in the slalom, giant slalom and ...

– Minister of Veterans and War Victims *

André Malraux Georges André Malraux ( , ; 3 November 1901 – 23 November 1976) was a French novelist, art theorist, and minister of cultural affairs. Malraux's novel ''La Condition Humaine'' (Man's Fate) (1933) won the Prix Goncourt. He was appointed by P ...

– Minister of Cultural Affairs *

Robert Boulin Robert Boulin (20 July 1920 – 30 October 1979) was a French politician who served as Minister of Labour in the French Cabinet and was at the centre of a major real-estate scandal that ended only with his death in mysterious circumstances. At t ...

– Minister of Agriculture *

Albin Chalandon Albin Chalandon (; 11 June 1920 – 29 July 2020) was a French politician and minister. Between 1968 and 1972, he was Minister of Public Works. And from 1986 until 1988, he was Minister of Justice. Between 1967 and 1968, he was a member of the ...

– Minister of Equipment and Housing * Jean Chamant – Minister of Transport *

Roger Frey Roger Frey (11 June 1913, Nouméa, New Caledonia – 13 September 1997) was a French politician. His parents were of Alsatian origin. He was Minister of the Interior and president of the Constitutional Council of France. Political career In 19 ...

– Minister of Relations with Parliament *

Yves Guéna Yves Guéna (; 6 July 1922 – 3 March 2016) was a French politician. In 1940, he joined the Free French Forces in the United Kingdom. He received several decorations for his courage. Political life He belonged to various right wing parties ...

– Minister of Posts and Telecommunications *

Maurice Schumann Maurice Schumann (; 10 April 1911 – 9 February 1998) was a French politician, journalist, writer, and hero of the Second World War who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs under Georges Pompidou from 22 June 1969 to 15 March 1973. Schumann w ...

– Minister of Social Affairs On 28 April 1969 –

Jean-Marcel Jeanneney Jean-Marcel Jeanneney (13 November 1910 – 17 September 2010) was minister in various French governments in the 1950s and 1960s, and France's first ambassador to Algeria in the immediate aftermath of the Algerian War. Born in Paris, he ha ...

succeeded Capitant as interim Minister of Justice.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Couve de Murville, Maurice 1907 births 1999 deaths Politicians from Reims French Protestants Union for the New Republic politicians Union of Democrats for the Republic politicians Rally for the Republic politicians Prime Ministers of France French Foreign Ministers French Ministers of Finance Deputies of the 4th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 5th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 6th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 7th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic French Senators of the Fifth Republic Senators of Paris French people of the Algerian War Ambassadors of France to the United States Ambassadors of France to West Germany Ambassadors of France to Egypt Permanent Representatives of France to NATO Lycée Louis-le-Grand alumni Sciences Po alumni Order of the Francisque recipients Grand Officiers of the Légion d'honneur Burials at Montparnasse Cemetery