Gaston Thomson was a French

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

born 29 January 1848 in Oran, French Algeria; died 14 May 1932 at

Bône Annaba ( ar, عنّابة, "Place of the Jujubes"; ber, Aânavaen), formerly known as Bon, Bona and Bône, is a seaport city in the northeastern corner of Algeria, close to the border with Tunisia. Annaba is near the small Seybouse River ...

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). He was a member of the French Chamber of Deputies for the Department of

Constantine Constantine most often refers to: * Constantine the Great, Roman emperor from 306 to 337, also known as Constantine I *Constantine, Algeria, a city in Algeria Constantine may also refer to: People * Constantine (name), a masculine given name ...

for fifty years and three months. He was Minister of Commerce, Industry, Posts and Telegraphs from 13 June 1914 to 29 October 1915. As Minister of the Navy in the Cabinets of Clemenceau and Rouvier, his tenure saw the construction of numerous warships, cruisers and battleships, improving the power of the

French Navy The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...

. On 6 June 1897 he fought a duel with fellow Deputy Leon Mirman, a Radical Socialist, in which Mirman was slightly wounded in the forearm. The duel grew out of an article written by the latter attacking Thomson.''New York Times'', June 7, 1897.

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