François Marie Tanguy Prigent (; 11 October 1909 – 20 January 1970) was a

French Socialist The French Left () refers to Communism, communist, Socialism, socialist, Social democracy, social democratic, Democratic socialism, democratic socialist, and Anarchism, anarchist political forces in France. The term originates from the Nationa ...

politician who became a resistance fighter during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

(1939–45). He was Minister of Agriculture from September 1944 to October 1947 and was Minister of Veterans and War Victims from February 1956 to June 1957.

Early years

François Tanguy-Prigent was born to a farming family on 11 October 1909 in the small town of

Saint-Jean-du-Doigt Saint-Jean-du-Doigt (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Finistère Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in north-western France. Population Inhabitants of Saint-Jean-du-Doigt are called in Fren ...

, in the

Finistère Finistère (, ; ) is a Departments of France, department of France in the extreme west of Brittany. Its prefecture is Quimper and its largest city is Brest, France, Brest. In 2019, it had a population of 915,090.Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

. He worked on the land from the age of 12 to 26, when he was elected to the legislature. He joined the

French Section of the Workers' International The French Section of the Workers' International (, SFIO) was a major socialist political party in France which was founded in 1905 and succeeded in 1969 by the present Socialist Party. The SFIO was founded in 1905 as the French representativ ...

(SFIO) in 1926. He undertook his military service in Paris in 1930–31, and on return became an active SFIO militant. In 1933–34 he played a major role in creation of the Fédération paysanne du Finistère, an agricultural union affiliated with the CNP, of which he became a national director. In 1934 Tanguy-Prigent was elected councilor general for the canton of

Lanmeur Lanmeur (; ) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France. A hamlet in the commune called Kerouac () has been established as the source of the name of the American writer Jack Kerouac. A street in Lanmeur has b ...

, but was not yet 25 so was unable to take his seat. He was reelected in March 1935. That year he became municipal councilor and then mayor of Saint-Jean-du-Doigt. He would hold these positions until his death, except during the

Vichy France Vichy France (; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was a French rump state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II, established as a result of the French capitulation after the Battle of France, ...

period. On 3 May 1936 Tanguy-Prigent was elected deputy to the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

for the 1st district of Morlaix in the second round of voting. He joined the Socialists in the chamber. For the next four years Tanguy-Prigent was particularly involved in agricultural issues. He attended agricultural conferences in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

(1937),

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

(1938) and

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

(1939). He was strongly opposed to the

Munich Agreement The Munich Agreement was reached in Munich on 30 September 1938, by Nazi Germany, the United Kingdom, the French Third Republic, French Republic, and the Kingdom of Italy. The agreement provided for the Occupation of Czechoslovakia (1938–194 ...

, and in May 1940 volunteered to fight with the 31st regiment of dragoons. He was one of the 80 deputies who refused to vote to give full powers to Marshal Pétain on 10 July 1940.

World War II Resistance

Tanguy-Prigent returned to farming in Saint-Jean-du-Doigt. He was arrested by the Germans from 6–23 September 1940. Tanguy-Prigent opposed the policies of Vichy by all legal means. At the same time he joined the Resistance, notably in

Libération Nord (), popularly known as ''Libé'' (), is a daily newspaper in France, founded in Paris by Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge July in 1973 in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968. Initially positioned on the far left of France's political spe ...

under the resistance name of "Jacques Le Ru". He narrowly escaped arrest in the summer of 1943 and went into hiding with his wife. He also founded the Resistance Paysanne newspaper. For many months he helped put in place the structure of

Armée secrète The armée secrète was a French military organization active during World War II. The collective grouped the paramilitary formations of the three most important Gaullist resistance movements in the southern zone. History In mid-1942, in ...

(the secret army) for the 19 departments in the northwest of France. In summer 1944 he personally fought with the

French Forces of the Interior The French Forces of the Interior (FFI; ) were French resistance fighters in the later stages of World War II. Charles de Gaulle used it as a formal name for the resistance fighters. The change in designation of these groups to FFI occurred as F ...

to liberate the

Morlaix Morlaix (; , ) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in northwestern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. History The Battle of Morlaix, part of the Hundred Years' War, was fought near the town on 30 Septembe ...

region. In August that year, he participated in the arrest of peasant populist and former Vichy official

Henry Dorgères Henry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters * Henry (surname) * Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone Arts and entertainment ...

Later career

Tanguy-Prigent represented Finistère as a member of the first and second National Constituent Assemblies, and was a deputy for Finistère from 1946 to 1958. He was named

Minister of Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...

by General

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 ...

, holding office from September 1944 to October 1947. He was Minister of Supplies from November 1945 to January 1946. He dissolved the

Vichy regime Vichy France (; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was a French rump state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II, established as a result of the French capitulation after the defeat against ...

's Peasant Corporation in September 1944, but the unity of agricultural organizations that it had established persisted. He replaced the Corporation with a national union of working farmers rather than landowners, the General Confederation of Agriculture (GCA). In March 1946 the CGA became the Fédération nationale des syndicats d'exploitants agricoles (FNSEA). Many of the former Peasant Corporation leaders became leaders of the FNSEA. Tanguy-Prigent was Minister of Veterans and War Victims from February 1956 to June 1957. He was again deputy for Finistère from 1962 to 1967. Tanguy-Prigent died on 20 January 1970 in

References

Sources

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tanguy-Prigent, Francois 1909 births 1970 deaths French Section of the Workers' International politicians Autonomous Socialist Party (France) politicians Unified Socialist Party (France) politicians Ministers of agriculture of France Ministers of veterans affairs of France Members of the 16th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Members of the Constituent Assembly of France (1945) Members of the Constituent Assembly of France (1946) Deputies of the 1st National Assembly of the French Fourth Republic Deputies of the 2nd National Assembly of the French Fourth Republic Deputies of the 3rd National Assembly of the French Fourth Republic Deputies of the 2nd National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Members of Parliament for Finistère MEPs for France 1958–1979 The Vichy 80 French military personnel of World War II French Resistance members French people of the First Indochina War French people of the Algerian War