Albert Pen (March 1, 1931 – July 3, 2003) was a politician from

Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saint Pierre and Miquelon (), officially the Territorial Collectivity of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon (french: link=no, Collectivité territoriale de Saint-Pierre et Miquelon ), is a self-governing territorial overseas collectivity of France in t ...

who represented the island territory in both the

French Senate The Senate (french: Sénat, ) is the upper house of the French Parliament, with the lower house being the National Assembly (France), National Assembly, the two houses constituting the legislature of France. The French Senate is made up of 34 ...

and the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

. He was a senator from 1968 to 1981, a deputy to the National Assembly from 1981 to 1986, and then a senator again from 1986 to 1995.

Early life

Albert Pen was born in

Dartmouth, Nova Scotia Dartmouth ( ) is an urban community and former city located in the Halifax Regional Municipality of Nova Scotia, Canada. Dartmouth is located on the eastern shore of Halifax Harbour. Dartmouth has been nicknamed the City of Lakes, after the larg ...

, to French parents originally from

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...

. He attended school at the

Lycée Chaptal The Lycée Chaptal, formerly the Collège Chaptal, is a large secondary school in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, named after Jean-Antoine Chaptal, with about 2,000 pupils. It was taken over by the City of Paris in 1848 after the founder ran into ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, and then went on to study teaching. Between 1954 and 1960 Pen taught for periods at

Bayeux Bayeux () is a Communes of France, commune in the Calvados (department), Calvados Departments of France, department in Normandy (administrative region), Normandy in northwestern France. Bayeux is the home of the Bayeux Tapestry, which depicts ...

Étréham Étréham () is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. Toponymy ''Oesterham'' in 1350. Probably Old Saxon ''*wester'' or Old English ''westre'' related to "west" (Old High German ''westar'', west ...

, and

Nonant Nonant () is a Communes of France, commune in the Calvados (department), Calvados Departments of France, department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy Regions of France, region in northwestern France. Population See also *Commu ...

(all in the

Calvados Calvados (, , ) is a brandy from Normandy in France, made from apples or pears, or from apples with pears. History In France Apple orchards and brewers are mentioned as far back as the 8th century by Charlemagne. The first known record of Norm ...

department of

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

). He moved to Saint Pierre and Miquelon in 1960 to teach at the Lycée-Collège d'État Émile Letournel. He became the college's director in 1963.

Politics

Albert Pen was elected to the General Council of Saint Pierre and Miquelon in 1964, of which he became vice-president and then president from 1968 to 1984. He was also elected mayor of Saint-Pierre in 1971. At the 1968 legislative elections Pen was elected to the Senate for the

Union of Democrats for the Republic The Union for the Defence of the Republic (french: Union pour la défense de la République), after 1968 renamed Union of Democrats for the Republic (french: Union des Démocrates pour la République), commonly abbreviated UDR, was a Gaullist po ...

, defeating

Henri Claireaux Henri is an Estonian, Finnish, French, German and Luxembourgish form of the masculine given name Henry. People with this given name ; French noblemen :'' See the ' List of rulers named Henry' for Kings of France named Henri.'' * Henri I de Mont ...

of the

Christian Democratic Party __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social tea ...

. Somewhat of a maverick, he left the UDR in 1969 to sit as an independent, and then in 1974 joined the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

. He left the Socialist caucus in 1977 to protest a lack of Overseas French representation at its national conference, but eventually rejoined. He would frequently vote against his own party, however, especially on issues relating to his constituency. In 1981 Pen left the Senate to switch to the National Assembly, effectively swapping places with

Marc Plantegenest Marc or MARC may refer to: People * Marc (given name), people with the first name * Marc (surname), people with the family name Acronyms * MARC standards, a data format used for library cataloging, * MARC Train, a regional commuter rail system o ...

. He returned to the Senate in 1986, remaining as a senator until being defeated by

Victor Reux Victor Reux (December 3, 1929 – June 3, 2016) was a French and Saint Pierre and Miquelon politician and teacher. He served in the French Senate, representing the overseas collectivity of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, for nine years from October 1, ...

(

UPM UPM may refer to: * Ultra-pure metal * UPM (company), UPM-Kymmene Oyj, a pulp and paper company * Union pour la méditerrannée, Mediterranean Community * Union for a Popular Movement, opposition party of France * Unit production manager, someone ...

) at the 1995 elections. Pen strongly opposed the French government position on the

Canada–France Maritime Boundary Case The ''Canada–France Maritime Boundary Case'' was a dispute between Canada and France that was decided in 1992 by an arbitral tribunal created by the parties to resolve the dispute. The decision established the extent of the Exclusive Economic Zo ...

, which saw Saint Pierre and Miquelon lose much of its claimed exclusive economic zone to Canada.

References

Official Website of the Senate
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pen, Albert 1931 births 2003 deaths People from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia Canadian people of Breton descent French people of Breton descent Saint Pierre and Miquelon politicians Union of Democrats for the Republic politicians Socialist Party (France) politicians French Senators of the Fifth Republic Senators of Saint Pierre and Miquelon Deputies of the 7th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 8th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Saint Pierre and Miquelon educators Members of Parliament for Saint Pierre and Miquelon