Émile Henri Roblot (15 February 1886 – 24 August 1963) a French

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

who served as the

Minister of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In o ...

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

from 1937 to 1944.

Early life and career

Roblot was born on 15 February 1886. He studied law in

Dijon Dijon (, , ) (dated) * it, Digione * la, Diviō or * lmo, Digion is the prefecture of the Côte-d'Or department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in northeastern France. the commune had a population of 156,920. The earlies ...

where he received a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

in 1912 and published a doctoral thesis. He was a

prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect's ...

for the French departements of and

Meurthe-et-Moselle Meurthe-et-Moselle () is a department in the Grand Est region of France, named after the rivers Meurthe and Moselle. It had a population of 733,760 in 2019.Bas-Rhin Bas-Rhin (; Alsatian: ''Unterelsàss'', ' or '; traditional german: links=no, Niederrhein; en, Lower Rhine) is a department in Alsace which is a part of the Grand Est super-region of France. The name means 'Lower Rhine', referring to its low ...

from 1935 to 1937.

Minister of State of Monaco

Roblot was appointed

Minister of State of Monaco The Prime Minister, literally the Minister of State (French: ''Ministre d'État''), is the head of government of Monaco, being appointed by and subordinate to the Prince of Monaco. During their term of office, the officeholder is responsible for ...

by Louis II on 10 August 1937. Shortly before the start of

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 opposin ...

Monaco declared its neutrality. Once the war started, 800 people were mobilized in the country. This and

demographics of Monaco This is a demography of the population of Monaco, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population. In 1995, Monaco's population was es ...

caused a great deal of tension between the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

and French population of the country, who strongly supported different sides of the conflict. Roblot had strong ties to

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 ter ...

, and was sympathetic to the government of

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 ...

throughout its existence. Throughout the World War II period, Louis II kept Roblot as his the Minister of State despite his affiliations with pro-fascist individuals, and despite demands by the Monesgasque and French populations to dismiss him. When

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

occupied Monaco in 1942 and then

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

in 1943, Roblot was permitted to keep his position and played an important role in the governing of both occupations. After the Germans left Monaco in late 1944. Roblot forbid pro-Allied demonstrations. At his return to Monaco, Rainier, alarmed by the actions undertaken during and after the occupation, went to see Louis and personally asked for Roblot's dismission. Louis refused but Roblot decided to resign the position in September 1944 due to popular demand by the Monesgasque population. No charges were conducted in the country after the war. In 2010, it was revealed that Roblot had personally played a role in the rounding of 90 Jewish residents on the night of 27 August 1942 whom were handed over to

, all but nine were subsequently killed in the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

Honours

* : Sovereign of the

Order of Saint-Charles The Order of Saint Charles (french: Ordre de Saint Charles) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in Monaco on 15 March 1858. Award This order rewards service to the State or Prince. In particular cases, it may be granted to foreign ...

* : Medal of the

Order of the Francisque The Order of the Gallic Francisque () is an order and medal which was awarded by the Vichy Regime, the Nazi-aligned government of France during World War II. The order was created by the ''arrêtés'' of 26 May 1941, the law of 16 May 1941 and ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roblot, Emile Ministers of State of Monaco World War II political leaders 1963 deaths 1886 births