Félix Gaillard d'Aimé (; 5 November 1919 – 10 July 1970) was a French Radical politician who served as

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 ...

under the Fourth Republic from 1957 to 1958. He was the youngest head of a French government since

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

Career

A senior civil servant in the Inland Revenue Service, Gaillard joined the Resistance and served on its Finance committee. As a member of the Radical Party, he was elected deputy of Charente ''département'' in 1946. During the Fourth Republic, he held a number of governmental offices, notably as Minister of Economy and Finance in 1957.

Prime minister

He became Prime Minister in 1957, but, not unusually for the

French Fourth Republic The French Fourth Republic (french: Quatrième république française) was the republican government of France from 27 October 1946 to 4 October 1958, governed by the fourth republican constitution. It was in many ways a revival of the Third Re ...

; his term of office lasted only a few months. Gaillard was defeated in a vote of no confidence by the French National Assembly, in March 1958, after the bombing of Sakiet-Sidi-Youssef, a Tunisian village.

Later political career

President of the Radical Party from 1958 to 1961, he advocated an alliance of the center-left and the center-right parties. He represented a generation of young politicians whose careers were blighted by the advent of the Fifth Republic.

Death

Gaillard was last seen alive on 9 July 1970, when he and three passengers boarded his yacht, the ''Marie Grillon'' and departed the island of

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label= Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west France. It is the l ...

to return to the French mainland after a brief stay. The next day, bits of the wreckage of the yacht were found at the

Minquiers The Minquiers (''Les Minquiers''; in Jèrriais: ''Les Mîntchièrs'' ; known as "the Minkies" in local English) are a group of islands and rocks, about south of Jersey. They form part of the Bailiwick of Jersey. They are administratively part ...

reefs, along with the bodies of the two passengers. Gaillard's body was found, along with that of another passenger, floating in the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

on 12 July.

Gaillard's Ministry, 6 November 1957 – 14 May 1958

*Félix Gaillard – President of the Council *

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– Minister of Foreign Affairs * Jacques Chaban-Delmas – Minister of National Defense and Armed Forces *

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– Minister of the Interior *

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– Minister of Public Works, Transport, and Tourism *

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– Minister for the Sahara

References

1919 births 1970 deaths Deaths due to shipwreck at sea Deaths from explosion Deputies of the 1st National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 1st National Assembly of the French Fourth Republic Deputies of the 2nd National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 2nd National Assembly of the French Fourth Republic Deputies of the 3rd National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 3rd National Assembly of the French Fourth Republic Deputies of the 4th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic French Ministers of Finance French people of the Algerian War Politicians from Paris Prime Ministers of France Radical Party (France) politicians {{France-politician-RPV-stub