Maurice Paquirissamypoullé, or Paquirissamy-Poullé, (9 August 1906 – 13 January 1956) was a rice trader and politician from the colony of

Karaikal Karaikal (Help:IPA/English, /kʌdɛkʌl/, french: Karikal Help:IPA/French, /kaʁikal/) is a town of the Indian States and territories of India, Union Territory of Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry. Karaikal was sold to the French by t ...

in French India. He represented the colony in the Council of the Republic from 1947 until 1955, when his seat was dissolved following the union with India. He did what he could to ensure a

peaceful transition of power A peaceful transition or transfer of power is a concept important to democratic governments in which the leadership of a government peacefully hands over control of government to a newly-elected leadership. This may be after elections or during t ...

Early years

Maurice Paquirissamypoullé was born on 9 August 1906 in

, French India. He studied at the Collège Colonial in

Pondicherry Pondicherry (), now known as Puducherry ( French: Pondichéry ʊdʊˈtʃɛɹi(listen), on-dicherry, is the capital and the most populous city of the Union Territory of Puducherry in India. The city is in the Puducherry district on the sout ...

. He became a rice trader. Paquirissamypoullé did not speak French well, and flirted with communism before entering mainstream politics as a socialist. He was married to Nagammal. He was born Hindu Vellala and became ''renonçant'' on 10 december 1924.Journal officiel des établissements français dans l'Inde, 31 janvier 1925, p.75.

Local politics

After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

(1939–45) Paquirissamypoullé was elected a member of the Representative Assembly of French India on 15 December 1946. He became vice-president of the assembly on 25 January 1947. The French administration was often lethargic and bureaucratic, despite attempts by Paquirissamypoullé in the Assembly to goad it into action. On 20 December 1948 the Assembly voted for a motion that approved the resolution of the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British E ...

Jaipur Jaipur (; Hindi: ''Jayapura''), formerly Jeypore, is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Rajasthan. , the city had a population of 3.1 million, making it the tenth most populous city in the country. Jaipur is also known ...

that required annexation of all foreign possessions in India, and called for the opening of negotiations between Paris and New Delhi. Paquirissamypoullé approved this resolution. On 23 October 1948 Paquirissamypoullé was elected municipal councilor of Karikal. He was appointed mayor of Karaikal on 27 October 1948. He was reelected municipal councilor on 3 May 1953, holding office until his death.

Senator

On 26 January 1947 Paquirissamypoullé was elected to the Council of the Republic (the equivalent to the Senate in the

French Fourth Republic The French Fourth Republic (french: Quatrième république française) was the republican government of France from 27 October 1946 to 4 October 1958, governed by the fourth republican constitution. It was in many ways a revival of the Third Re ...

) to represent the French Establishments in India (''Établissements français dans l'Inde''). He sat with the

Popular Republican Movement The Popular Republican Movement (french: Mouvement Républicain Populaire, MRP) was a Christian-democratic political party in France during the Fourth Republic. Its base was the Catholic vote and its leaders included Georges Bidault, Robert Sc ...

(MRP, Mouvement Républicain Populaire) group. He was reelected on 19 December 1948. In 1949 he participated in debating the draft law for organizing a referendum in Chandannagar, the first of the French Establishments to become part of the Indian Union (in 1951). In 1953 he asked for government assistance for the victims of a cyclone that had devastated Karikal. He was a member of the Committee on Economic Affairs, Customs and Trade Conventions in 1952, and of the Beverage Committee from 1952 to 1954. In January 1954 Paquirissamypoullé returned from Paris, where he had met with Georges Bidault, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and

Louis Jacquinot Louis Jacquinot (16 September 1898 – 14 June 1993) was a French lawyer and politician, and chief of Prime Minister Raymond Poincaré's office. Jacquinot was born in Gondrecourt-le-Château (Meuse) in 1898. Entering parliament in 1932, he la ...

, Minister of Overseas France. They had told him that a merger of the French Establishments with India was inevitable, and France wanted the transfer to take place under the most favorable terms and conditions possible. The Indian government made repeated acts of aggression and intimidation that year.

Yanaon Yanaon or Yanam was one of the five principal settlements of French India between 1731 and 1954. Early years Reason for European interests The French in their earlier records do mention of their interest in establishing trade in the Northern ...

was lost to India on 13 June 1954, and Mahé was evacuated by the freighter Granville on 16 July 1954. Paquirissamypoullé, until then loyal to France, bowed to the inevitable and came out in favour of the return to India. The troops of Dadala Raphael Ramanayya attacked the commune of Bahour to the north of Pondicherry on 22 July 1954. Paquirissamypoullé managed to maintain calm in Karikal, whose evacuation by the French would have signalled general evacuation of the colonies.

Pierre Mendès France Pierre Isaac Isidore Mendès France (; 11 January 190718 October 1982) was a French politician who served as prime minister of France for eight months from 1954 to 1955. As a member of the Radical Party, he headed a government supported by a co ...

became head of the French government on 17 June 1954 on a program of peace in

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...

. On 20 July 1954 he asked

Robert Buron Robert Buron (27 February 1910 – 28 April 1973) was a French politician and Minister of Finance from 20 January 1955 to 23 February 1955 and Minister of Public Works, Transport, and Tourism during Charles de Gaulle's third term from 9 June 195 ...

, Minister of Overseas France, to settle the French Indian problem. A Franco-Indian accord was signed in New Delhi on 11 October 1954. The formal transfer of power took place on 31 October 1954. The last four French Establishments in India, Karaikal, Mahé, Pondicherry and Yanaon, became part of the Indian Union. Their seat in the Council of the Republic was suppressed by decree of 5 May 1955. Maurice Paquirissamypoullé's term of office ended on 4 July 1955. He died on 13 January 1956 in Karaikal, Puducherry, India.

Positions held

Notes

Sources