Bernard Cornut-Gentille (26 July 1909 – 21 January 1992) was a French administrator and politician. Born in

Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress *Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria *Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France **Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Brest, ...

Finistère Finistère (, ; br, Penn-ar-Bed ) is a department of France in the extreme west of Brittany. In 2019, it had a population of 915,090.

École Libre des Sciences Politiques , motto_lang = fr , mottoeng = Roots of the Future , type = Public research university''Grande école'' , established = , founder = Émile Boutmy , accreditation ...

. In 1943 he was appointed as the

Subprefect A subprefect is a high government official in several countries, such as Brazil and France. In Brazil, a subprefect (''subprefeito'') is the highest official of a subprefecture, which is a subdivision of certain large municipalities (São Paulo, ...

Reims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded by ...

, but resigned to assist the

Free French Free France (french: France Libre) was a political entity that claimed to be the legitimate government of France following the dissolution of the Third Republic. Led by French general , Free France was established as a government-in-exile ...

delegate

Émile Bollaert Émile Bollaert (13 November 1890 – 18 May 1978) was French High Commissioner of Indochina from 5 March 1947 to 19 October 1948. He was one of the senators elected by the National Assembly who held office during the French Fourth Republic ...

. Following the Liberation of France he served as

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 ...

Ille-et-Vilaine Ille-et-Vilaine (; br, Il-ha-Gwilen) is a department of France, located in the region of Brittany in the northwest of the country. It is named after the two rivers of the Ille and the Vilaine. It had a population of 1,079,498 in 2019.

, of the

Somme __NOTOC__ Somme or The Somme may refer to: Places *Somme (department), a department of France *Somme, Queensland, Australia *Canal de la Somme, a canal in France *Somme (river), a river in France Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Somme'' (book), a ...

, and of the

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 ...

. In 1948 he was appointed High Commissioner in

French Equatorial Africa French Equatorial Africa (french: link=no, Afrique-Équatoriale française), or the AEF, was the federation of French colonial possessions in Equatorial Africa, extending northwards from the Congo River into the Sahel, and comprising what are ...

then, from 1951 to 1956, High Commissioner in

French West Africa French West Africa (french: Afrique-Occidentale française, ) was a federation of eight French colonial territories in West Africa: Mauritania, Senegal, French Sudan (now Mali), French Guinea (now Guinea), Ivory Coast, Upper Volta (now Burki ...

. After this, he served as France's permanent representative to the

United Nations Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the Organs of the United Nations, six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international security, international peace and security, recommending the admi ...

, and in 1957 as ambassador to

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. Standing for the

Gaullist Party In France, the term Gaullist Party is usually used to refer to the largest party professing to be Gaullist. Gaullism claims to transcend the left–right divide in a similar way to populist republican parties elsewhere such as Fianna Fáil in Rep ...

, the UNR, he was elected to represent

Alpes-Maritimes Alpes-Maritimes (; oc, Aups Maritims; it, Alpi Marittime, "Maritime Alps") is a department of France located in the country's southeast corner, on the Italian border and Mediterranean coast. Part of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, it ...

in the 1958 election to the

National Assembly of France The National Assembly (french: link=no, italics=set, Assemblée nationale; ) is the lower house of the bicameral French Parliament under the Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are known a ...

. He had been minister without portfolio in June 1958, then

Minister of Overseas France The Minister of the Overseas (french: Ministre des Outre-mer) is the official in charge of the Ministry of the Overseas in the Government of the French Republic, responsible for overseeing Overseas France. The office was titled Minister of ...

from 3 June 1958 to 8 January 1959 in the governments of

Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (; ; (commonly abbreviated as CDG) 22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French army officer and statesman who led Free France against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government ...

. Under

Michel Debré Michel Jean-Pierre Debré (; 15 January 1912 – 2 August 1996) was the first Prime Minister of the French Fifth Republic. He is considered the "father" of the current Constitution of France. He served under President Charles de Gaulle from 1959 ...

he served as

Minister of Posts, Telegraphs, and Telephones The Minister of Posts and Telegraphs, to which was later added the charge of Telephones (the position was later named "Minister of Posts and Telecommunications"), was, in the Government of France, the cabinet member in charge of the French Posta ...

from 8 January 1959 to 5 February 1960. He resigned ministerial office at the same time as

Jacques Soustelle Jacques Soustelle (3 February 1912 – 6 August 1990) was an important and early figure of the Free French Forces, a politician who served in the French National Assembly and at one time served as Governor General of Algeria, an anthropologist s ...

, over the handling of the affair of the barricades in

Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...

and broke with the Gaullists. He sat in the National Assembly as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

(french: non-inscrit) until 1968 and again from 1973 to 1978. Locally, he served as mayor of

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions I ...

from 1959 to 1978. Here he initiated a programme of redevelopment and renovation. His nephew François Cornut-Gentille has served as representative of the

Haute-Marne Haute-Marne (; English: Upper Marne) is a department in the Grand Est region of Northeastern France. Named after the river Marne, its prefecture is Chaumont. In 2019, it had a population of 172,512.Saint-Dizier Saint-Dizier () is a subprefecture Of the Haute-Marne department in north-eastern France. It has a population of 23,382 (2018 figure) and is a subprefecture of the department. Although Saint-Dizier is marginally the most populous commune in Haute ...

since 1995.

External links

*
Biography
at the website of the Assemblée nationale {{DEFAULTSORT:Cornut-Gentille, Bernard 1909 births 1992 deaths Politicians from Brest, France Union for the New Republic politicians French Ministers of the Colonies French Ministers of Overseas France French Ministers of Posts, Telegraphs, and Telephones 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 5th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Permanent Representatives of France to the United Nations Ambassadors of France to Argentina Prefects of France Prefects of Ille-et-Vilaine Prefects of Somme (department) Prefects of Bas-Rhin Sciences Po alumni Mayors of places in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur