Roland Dumas (; born 23 August 1922) is a French lawyer and

Socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

politician who served as Foreign Minister under President François Mitterrand from 1984 to 1986 and from 1988 to 1993. He was also President of the Constitutional Council from 1995 to 1999.

Biography

Youth

Roland Dumas is the son of Elisabeth Lecanuet and Georges Dumas, a civil servant in Limoges's region and Socialist resistant to the German Occupation during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. shot at by the

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one orga ...

, he conveyed weapons for the Resistance. He was arrested after organizing a boycott of the

Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra The Berlin Philharmonic (german: Berliner Philharmoniker, links=no, italic=no) is a German orchestra based in Berlin. It is one of the most popular, acclaimed and well-respected orchestras in the world. History The Berlin Philharmonic was f ...

by French students. After the war, he completed his law and political science studies in the '' Ecole libre des sciences politiques'' and the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...

. As a journalist and lawyer, he defended Jean Mons, Secretary-General of the Defence Committee, from charges of negligence in a case where Mons's assistant was accused of passing secrets of national security to communists. In this, he became close to François Mitterrand, president of the

Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance The Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance (french: Union démocratique et socialiste de la Résistance or UDSR) was a French political party founded after the liberation of France from German occupation and mainly active during the Fo ...

(UDSR) party, himself suspected in the same scandal.

Politics

In 1956, he was elected deputy for Haute-Vienne ''département'' under the UDSR banner. He lost his seat in the 1958 legislative election, which followed the return of General Charles de Gaulle to power. He came back into the French National Assembly between 1967 and 1968 as representative of

Corrèze Corrèze (; oc, Corresa) is a department in France, named after the river Corrèze which runs through it. Although its prefecture is Tulle, its most populated city is Brive-la-Gaillarde. Corrèze is located in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region ...

''département''. As a member of the renewed

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 t ...

(PS) led by Mitterrand, he became deputy for Gironde in 1973, then for

Dordogne Dordogne ( , or ; ; oc, Dordonha ) is a large rural department in Southwestern France, with its prefecture in Périgueux. Located in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region roughly half-way between the Loire Valley and the Pyrenees, it is name ...

on the occasion of the "pink wave" of 1981. In 1974, he acted as defence lawyer for

Hilarion Capucci Hilarion Capucci ( ar, هيلاريون كابوتشي; 2 March 1922 – 1 January 2017) was a Syrian Catholic bishop who served as the titular archbishop of Caesarea in the Melkite Greek Catholic Church. Early years He was born in Aleppo, Syri ...

, who was prosecuted in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

on charges of smuggling weapons into the country for the PLO. When President Mitterrand appointed

Laurent Fabius Laurent Fabius (; born 20 August 1946) is a French politician serving as President of the Constitutional Council since 8 March 2016. A member of the Socialist Party, he previously served as Prime Minister of France from 17 July 1984 to 20 Mar ...

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 ...

in July 1984, Dumas joined the cabinet as Minister of European Affairs. Five months later, he replaced Foreign Minister

Claude Cheysson Claude Cheysson (; 13 April 1920 – 15 October 2012) was a French Socialist politician who served as Foreign Minister in the government of Pierre Mauroy from 1981 to 1984. Career Cheysson was born in Paris and attended the Cours Hattemer, ...

. He remained in this position until the Socialist defeat in the March 1986 legislative election. Nevertheless, he returned to the

Quai d'Orsay The Quai d'Orsay ( , ) is a quay in the 7th arrondissement of Paris. It is part of the left bank of the Seine opposite the Place de la Concorde. The Quai becomes the Quai Anatole-France east of the Palais Bourbon, and the Quai Branly west of t ...

after the re-election of Mitterrand in May 1988, until the PS defeat in the March 1993 legislative elections. He was the French Foreign Minister during the collapse of the Soviet Block, the

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...

, and the negotiations of the

Maastricht Treaty The Treaty on European Union, commonly known as the Maastricht Treaty, is the foundation treaty of the European Union (EU). Concluded in 1992 between the then-twelve Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Communities, ...

. After losing reelection to the French National Assembly in 1993, he was nominated President of the Constitutional Council in 1995. Under his presidency, the body argued in favour of complete

judicial immunity Judicial immunity is a form of sovereign immunity, which protects judges and others employed by the judiciary from liability resulting from their judicial actions. Though judges have immunity from lawsuit, in constitutional democracies judicial m ...

for the French

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

. Roland Dumas is a member of the Emergency Committee for Iraq.

Convictions

Accused in the Elf affair, he resigned from the Presidency of the Constitutional Council in January 1999. Dumas' conviction for criticising a public prosecutor in his book was found unlawful by the

European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that ...

in 2010, by five votes to two. In May 2007, Dumas received a 12-month jail sentence (suspended) for funds he mis-appropriated acting as executor of the will of the widow of Alberto Giacometti.

Controversial comments on Valls

In February 2015, Dumas suggested

Manuel Valls Manuel Carlos Valls Galfetti (, , ; born 13 August 1962) is a French-Spanish politician who has served as a Barcelona city councillor from 2019 to 2021. He served as Prime Minister of France from 2014 until 2016 under president François Hol ...

was probably acting under Jewish "influence." During an interview on BFM-TV, Dumas stated that the prime minister "has personal alliances that mean he has prejudices...Everyone knows he is married to someone really good but who has an influence on him," an apparent reference to Valls' wife,

Anne Gravoin Anne Gravoin (born 4 November 1965) is a French concert violinist and music entrepreneur. In 2010 she married Manuel Valls, who served between 2014 and 2016 as Prime Minister of France. However, In April 2018 Valls announced their separation. ...

, who is Jewish. When directly asked by a reporter if Valls " asunder a Jewish influence?" Dumas responded, "Probably, I would think so." The French Socialist party subsequently released a statement declaring that Dumas' claims were "unworthy of a Socialist decorated by the Republic". Valls declined to comment on Dumas's claims, except to say that Dumas was "a man with a known past and his remarks which have done no credit to the Republic for a long time."French Socialists condemn ex-minister's Jewish remark

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was esta ...

, 16 February 2015.

Personal life

Dumas turned 100 in August 2022.

Political career

Governmental functions President of the

Constitutional Council of France The Constitutional Council (french: Conseil constitutionnel; ) is the highest constitutional authority in France. It was established by the Constitution of the Fifth Republic on 4 October 1958 to ensure that constitutional principles and rules ...

: 1995–2000 (Resignation). Governmental functions Minister for European Affairs : 1983–1984. Minister of External Relations : 1984–1986. Government spokesman : June–December 1984. Minister of Foreign Affairs : 1988–1993. Electoral mandates ''National Assembly of France'' Member of the National Assembly of France for Haute-Vienne : 1956–1958. Elected in 1956. Member of the National Assembly of France for

: 1967–1968. Elected in 1967. Member of the National Assembly of France for

: 1981–1983 (Became minister in 1983) / 1986–1988 (Became minister in 1988). Elected in 1981, reelected in 1986, 1988.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Dumas, Roland 1922 births Living people People from Limoges Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance politicians Socialist Party (France) politicians French Foreign Ministers Deputies of the 3rd National Assembly of the French Fourth Republic Deputies of the 3rd National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 7th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 8th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 9th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic French centenarians Government spokespersons of France 20th-century French diplomats Sciences Po alumni Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana, 1st Class French politicians convicted of crimes French politicians convicted of corruption French expatriates in the United Kingdom French Resistance members Men centenarians