Pierre Eugène Jean Pflimlin (; 5 February 1907 – 27 June 2000) was a French
Christian Democrat
Christian democracy (sometimes named Centrist democracy) is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Catholic social teaching and neo-Calvinism.
It was conceived as a combination of modern democratic ...
politician who served as the
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
Pflimlin was born in Roubaix in the Nord department. A lawyer and a member of the Christian democratic
Popular Republican Movement
The Popular Republican Movement (french: Mouvement Républicain Populaire, MRP) was a Christian-democratic political party in France during the Fourth Republic. Its base was the Catholic vote and its leaders included Georges Bidault, Robert Sc ...
(MRP), he was elected deputy of département
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 1945. With his personal roots in
Alsace
Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...
, Pflimlin numbered among his MRP party colleagues the
Luxembourg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
-born Robert Schuman; for both, relations with Germany played an important role in their political thinking.
He held some governmental offices during the Fourth Republic, notably as Minister of Agriculture (1947–1949 and 1950–1951) and as Minister of Economy and Finance (1955–1956, 1957–1958).
Prime Minister of France
On 13 May 1958, the French National Assembly approved his nomination as Prime Minister. But the same day, riots took place in Algiers. The French generals in
feared he would arrange for a negotiated solution with the Algerian nationalists giving them control of Algeria. They refused to recognize his cabinet. At this point the leading politicians deserted him, including Guy Mollet,
Vincent Auriol
Vincent Jules Auriol (; 27 August 1884 – 1 January 1966) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1947 to 1954.
Early life and politics
Auriol was born in Revel, Haute-Garonne, as the only child of Jacques Antoine Aurio ...
, and
Antoine Pinay
Antoine Pinay (; 30 December 1891 – 13 December 1994) was a French conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 1952 to 1953.
Life
Antoine Pinay was born on 30 December 1891 in Saint-Symphorien-sur-Coise. He was a child ...
. The crisis culminated in a
coup d'état
A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...
in Algier that was resolved with his resignation, thus facilitating Charles de Gaulle accession to the post of Prime Minister on 1 June.Robert Gildea, ''France since 1945 '' (1996) p 44
Subsequent public offices
Pflimlin was Minister of State until 1959. As Minister of Cooperation in 1962, he resigned with the other MRP ministers in order to protest against the euro-scepticism of de Gaulle.
Pflimlin served as the first Catholic mayor of Strasbourg from 1959 to 1983.
He also was the President of the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is the parliamentary arm of the Council of Europe, a 46-nation international organisation dedicated to upholding human rights, democracy and the rule of law.
The Assembly is made up ...
from 1963 to 1966 and President of the
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...
from 1984 to 1987.
Honors
The
Pierre Pflimlin bridge
The Pierre Pflimlin Bridge (french: Pont Pierre Pflimlin) is a long motorway bridge over the river Rhine, with a main span measuring . It connects Germany and France, at Kehl and Strasbourg. It is named after Pierre Pflimlin, a former French pr ...
south of Strasbourg, connecting France to Germany, is named after him and was opened in 2002.
Government (14 May – 1 June 1958)
*Pierre Pflimlin – President of the Council
* Guy Mollet – Vice President of the Council
* René Pleven – Minister of Foreign Affairs
* Maurice Faure – Minister of the Interior
* Pierre de Chevigné – Minister of Armed Forces
*
Edgar Faure
Edgar Jean Faure (; 18 August 1908 – 30 March 1988) was a French politician, lawyer, essayist, historian and memoirist who served as Prime Minister of France in 1952 and again between 1955 and 1956.Paul Ribeyre – Minister of Commerce and Industry
* Paul Bacon – Minister of Labour and Social Security
*
Robert Lecourt
Robert Lecourt (19 September 1908 – 9 August 2004) was a French politician and lawyer, judge and the fourth President of the European Court of Justice. He was born in Pavilly and died in Boulogne-Billancourt.
Significantly, in his role as a ...
Édouard Bonnefous
Édouard Henri Jean Bonnefous (24 August 1907 – 24 February 2007) was a French politician. Before World War II (1939–45) he was active in the study of international affairs.
After the war he was elected a deputy on the Rally of Left Republican ...
– Minister of Public Works, Transport, and Tourism
*
André Maroselli
André — sometimes transliterated as Andre — is the French and Portuguese form of the name Andrew, and is now also used in the English-speaking world. It used in France, Quebec, Canada and other French-speaking countries. It is a variation ...
– Minister of Public Health and Population
* Pierre Garet – Minister of Reconstruction and Housing
*
Édouard Corniglion-Molinier
General Édouard Corniglion-Molinier (23 January 1898, in Nice, Alpes-Maritimes – 9 May 1963) was an aviator and member of the French Resistance, a member of the French government during the French Fourth Republic, and, in the 1930-1940s, a movie ...
– Minister for the Sahara
*
Félix Houphouët-Boigny
Félix Houphouët-Boigny (; 18 October 1905 – 7 December 1993), affectionately called Papa Houphouët or Le Vieux ("The Old One"), was the first president of Ivory Coast, serving from 1960 until his death in 1993. A tribal chief, he wo ...
– Minister of State
Changes:
*17 May 1958 – Maurice Faure becomes Minister of European Institutions. Jules Moch succeeds Faure as Minister of the Interior. Albert Gazier enters the ministry as Minister of Information.
Max Lejeune
Max or MAX may refer to:
Animals
* Max (dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog
* Max (English Springer Spaniel), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of OBE)
* Max (gorilla) ...