Albert François Lebrun (; 29 August 1871 – 6 March 1950) was a French politician who served as

President of France The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency is the supreme magistracy of the country, the po ...

from 1932 to 1940. He was the last president of the Third Republic. He was a member of the centre-right Democratic Republican Alliance (ARD).

Biography

Early life

Born to a farming family in Mercy-le-Haut, Meurthe-et-Moselle, he attended the

École Polytechnique (, ; also known as Polytechnique or l'X ) is a ''grande école'' located in Palaiseau, France. It specializes in science and engineering and is a founding member of the Polytechnic Institute of Paris. The school was founded in 1794 by mat ...

and the École des Mines de Paris, graduating from both at the top of his class. He then became a mining engineer in

Vesoul Vesoul ( ) is a Communes of France, commune in the predominantly rural Haute-Saône department, of which it is the Prefectures in France, prefecture, or capital, in the Regions of France, region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté located in eastern Franc ...

and Nancy, but left that profession at the age of 29 to enter politics.

Politics

Lebrun won a seat in the Chamber of Deputies in 1900 as a member of the Left Republican Party, later serving on the cabinet as Minister for the Colonies from 1912 to 1914, Minister of War in 1913 and Minister for Liberated Regions from 1917 to 1919. Joining the Democratic Alliance, he was elected to the French senate from

Meurthe-et-Moselle Meurthe-et-Moselle () is a '' département'' in the Grand Est region of France, named after the rivers Meurthe and Moselle. Its prefecture and largest city is Nancy and it borders the departments of Meuse to the west, Vosges to the south, ...

in 1920, and served as Vice President of the Senate from 1925 through 1929. He was president of that body from 1931 to 1932.

President

Lebrun was elected President of France by the newly elected Chamber of Deputies following the assassination of President Paul Doumer by Pavel Gurgulov on 6 May 1932. Re-elected in 1939, largely because of his record of accommodating all political sides, he exercised little power as president. In June 1940, with the military collapse of France imminent, Lebrun wrote "the uselessness of the struggle was demonstrated. An end must be made." With the Cabinet wanting to ask for an armistice, on 17 June 1940 Prime Minister Paul Reynaud resigned, recommending to President Lebrun that he appoint Marechal

Philippe Pétain Henri Philippe Bénoni Omer Joseph Pétain (; 24 April 1856 – 23 July 1951), better known as Marshal Pétain (, ), was a French marshal who commanded the French Army in World War I and later became the head of the Collaboration with Nazi Ger ...

in his place, which he did that day. British General Sir Edward Spears, who was present with the French cabinet during this crisis wrote "it is clear that the President had made up his mind that France was free of her obligations to Britain, and was at liberty to ask for an armistice ith Germanyif she deemed it to be in her interests to do so." On 10 July 1940, Lebrun enacted the Constitutional Law of 10 July 1940, which the National Assembly had voted for by 569 votes to 80, allowing Prime Minister Philippe Pétain to promulgate a new constitution. On 11 July, Lebrun was replaced by Pétain as head of state. Lebrun fled to Vizille (Isère) on 15 July, but was captured on 27 August 1943, when the Germans moved into the region. He was then sent into captivity at the Itter Castle in

Tyrol Tyrol ( ; historically the Tyrole; ; ) is a historical region in the Alps of Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary, f ...

. On 10 October 1943 he was allowed to return to Vizille due to illness, but was kept under constant surveillance. On 15 August 1944,

Operation Dragoon Operation Dragoon (initially Operation Anvil), known as Débarquement de Provence in French ("Provence Landing"), was the code name for the landing operation of the Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of Provence (Southern France) on 15Augu ...

began. One week later,

Grenoble Grenoble ( ; ; or ; or ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Isère Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region ...

, Vizille and other cities were freed. The German 19th Army withdrew quickly. On 11 October 1944, Lebrun met with

Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French general and statesman who led the Free France, Free French Forces against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Re ...

and acknowledged the General's leadership. Conveniently forgetting the new Constitutional Law he had enacted in 1940, Lebrun said that he had not formally resigned as president because the dissolution of the National Assembly had left nobody to accept his resignation. Whether or not de Gaulle accepted this lie is unknown. During the post-war Petain trial "all the available celebrities of the Third Republic testified, including Lebrun, all whitewashing themselves". Lebrun argued again that he had never officially resigned. De Gaulle made no mystery of his low opinion of Lebrun, and wrote of him in his memoirs: "As a head of state he lacked two things: there was no state, and he wasn't a head."

Personal life

Lebrun was married to Marguerite Lebrun (née Nivoit). Together they had two children: a son, Jean, and a daughter, Marie.

Later life

After the war, Lebrun lived in retirement. He died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

in Paris on 6 March 1950 after a protracted illness.

References

External links

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