Édouard Gustave Depreux (31 October 1898 – 16 October 1981) was a French socialist journalist, essayist, and politician of 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 ...

; he was born in Viesly (''département'' of Nord) and died in Paris.

Early career

Born in Viesly, Depreux moved with his family to

Sceaux, Hauts-de-Seine Sceaux () is a commune in the Hauts-de-Seine department in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. In 2019, Sceaux had a population of 20,004. A wealthy city Sceaux is famous for the Château de Sceaux, ...

in 1913.B. D. Graham, 'Depreux, Edouard Gustave', in David Bell, Douglas Johnson & Douglas Morris, ''A Biographical Dictionary of French Political Leaders since 1870'', Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1990, pp. 116–7 A soldier in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Depreux was injured in a

gas attack Chemical warfare (CW) involves using the toxic properties of chemical substances as weapons. This type of warfare is distinct from nuclear warfare, biological warfare and radiological warfare, which together make up CBRN, the military acronym ...

, and was subsequently awarded the Croix de Guerre. He joined the

Section Française de l'Internationale Ouvrière The French Section of the Workers' International (french: Section française de l'Internationale ouvrière, SFIO) was a political party in France that was founded in 1905 and succeeded in 1969 by the modern-day Socialist Party. The SFIO was foun ...

(SFIO) at age 20, being influenced by the ideas of

Jean Jaurès Auguste Marie Joseph Jean Léon Jaurès (3 September 185931 July 1914), commonly referred to as Jean Jaurès (; oc, Joan Jaurés ), was a French Socialist leader. Initially a Moderate Republican, he later became one of the first social dem ...

and

Jean Longuet Jean-Laurent-Frederick Longuet (5 October 1876 – 11 September 1938) was a French socialist politician and journalist. He was Karl Marx's grandson. Early years Jean, often called 'Johnny' as a boy by his family, was born in London on October 5 ...

; he studied Philosophy, Law, and

Humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the t ...

, before becoming a lawyer. After serving as a member of the Sceaux ''

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

'' council in 1935, and as a council member for Seine (1938–1941), he joined the

French Resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...

in the fight against the

Nazi German 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 ...

military occupation Military occupation, also known as belligerent occupation or simply occupation, is the effective military control by a ruling power over a territory that is outside of that power's sovereign territory.Eyāl Benveniśtî. The international law ...

, and held a high-ranking position in the SFIO executive committee, being the editor of the illegal newspaper ''

Le Populaire ''Le Populaire'' is a major independent daily newspaper in Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ...

''. After the liberation of Paris, Depreux became mayor of Sceaux (a position he would hold until 1959), and a member of the

Provisional Consultative Assembly The Provisional Consultative Assembly (french: Assemblée consultative provisoire) was a governmental organ of Free France that operated under the aegis of the French Committee of National Liberation (CFLN) and that represented the resist ...

that served as the legislature of France prior to the creation of the Fourth Republic; he then was elected to the

French Parliament The French Parliament (french: Parlement français) is the bicameral legislature of the French Republic, consisting of the Senate () and the National Assembly (). Each assembly conducts legislative sessions at separate locations in Paris ...

for successive terms between 1946 and 1958.

As Minister and PSU leader

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

between 24 June 1946 and 24 November 1947 (in the Ministries of Georges Bidault, Léon Blum, and

Paul Ramadier Paul Ramadier (17 March 1888 in La Rochelle – 14 October 1961 in Rodez) was a French statesman. Biography The son of a psychiatrist, Ramadier graduated in law from the University of Toulouse and started his profession as a lawyer in Par ...

), he imposed the voting of an ''

Organic Statute of Algeria Organic may refer to: * Organic, of or relating to an organism, a living entity * Organic, of or relating to an anatomical organ Chemistry * Organic matter, matter that has come from a once-living organism, is capable of decay or is the product o ...

'', confirming partial autonomy for the

colony In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state' ...

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

. In 1947, he revealed the existence of an American-sponsored secret "''

stay-behind In a stay-behind operation, a country places secret operatives or organizations in its own territory, for use in case an enemy occupies that territory. If this occurs, the operatives would then form the basis of a resistance movement or act as sp ...

army''" in France codenamed ''Plan Bleu''. He was Minister of Education in Robert Schuman's first cabinet (February–July 1948). Hostile to the European Defence Community plan proposed by René Pleven, and highly critical of the

colonialism Colonialism is a practice or policy of control by one people or power over other people or areas, often by establishing colony, colonies and generally with the aim of economic dominance. In the process of colonisation, colonisers may impose the ...

accommodated by the SFIO, Depreux nonetheless led the Party's group in the French National Assembly on two occasions. At the same time, he became an opponent of Charles de Gaulle and Gaullism, and declared his dissatisfaction with the proclamation of the Fifth Republic. Édouard Depreux left the SFIO to enter the new Autonomous Socialist Party (PSA), and then the Unified Socialist Party (PSU, created by a merger between the PSA and other groups), serving as its national secretary between 1960 and 1967.

Works

*''Renouveau du socialisme'', Calmann-Lévy, 1960 *''La nouvelle Chine et son héritage'', Editions du Burin, 1967 *''Souvenir d'un militant, de la social-démocratie au socialisme'', Fayard, 1972 *''Servitude et grandeur du PSU'', Editions Syros, 1974 *''Comment j'ai pu, en décembre 1941, sous l'occupation nazie, dire non à Pétain et à Hitler'', Presses de l'Atelier Graphique, Reims 1979

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Depreux, Edouard 1898 births 1981 deaths People from Nord (French department) Politicians from Hauts-de-France French Section of the Workers' International politicians Unified Socialist Party (France) politicians French interior ministers French Ministers of National Education 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 French male non-fiction writers French memoirists French political writers Operation Gladio French military personnel of World War I French Resistance members Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France) 20th-century French journalists 20th-century memoirists 20th-century French male writers

Early career

As Minister and PSU leader

Works

See also

References