Maurice Schumann (; 10 April 1911 – 9 February 1998) was a French politician, journalist, writer, and hero of the
Second World War
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 opposi ...
who served as
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 co ...
under
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 ...
from 22 June 1969 to 15 March 1973. Schumann was a member of the Christian democratic
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 ...
.
The son of an
Alsatian Jewish father and Roman Catholic mother, he studied at the
Lycée Janson-de-Sailly and the
Lycée Henri-IV. He converted to his mother's faith in 1937. He once said of France's fate when suffering the Allied bombing raids, '....and now we are reduced to the most atrocious fate: to be killed without killing back, to be killed by friends without being able to kill our enemies'. During the
Second World War
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 opposi ...
he broadcast news reports and commentaries into France on the BBC French Service some 1,000 times in programs such as ''Honneur et Patrie''.
Across the Waves: How the United States and France Shaped the International Age of Radio by Derek W Vaillant
/ref> He was called by some the "voice of France".
During a meeting of the foreign ministers of the European Community
The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lis ...
in 1969, he stated France's conditions for Britain joining the community on its third application, i.e. questions of agricultural finance had to be settled first. Schumann died on 9 February 1998 in Paris, aged 86.
References
External links
Interview about the French nuclear program
for the WGBH series
War and Peace in the Nuclear Age
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schumann, Maurice
1911 births
1998 deaths
Politicians from Paris
French Roman Catholics
Converts to Roman Catholicism
Popular Republican Movement politicians
Union of Democrats for the Republic politicians
Rally for the Republic politicians
French Foreign Ministers
Members of the Constituent Assembly of France (1945)
Members of the Constituent Assembly of France (1946)
Deputies of the 1st National Assembly of the French Fourth Republic
Deputies of the 2nd National Assembly of the French Fourth Republic
Deputies of the 3rd National Assembly of the French Fourth Republic
Deputies of the 1st National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic
Deputies of the 2nd National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic
Deputies of the 3rd National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic
Deputies of the 4th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic
French Senators of the Fifth Republic
Senators of Nord (French department)
Vice-presidents of the Senate (France)
French contract bridge players
Lycée Henri-IV alumni
Lycée Janson-de-Sailly alumni
University of Paris alumni
Members of the Académie Française
Companions of the Liberation
Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George
Sportspeople from Nord (French department)
French people of German descent