Léon Bérard (; 6 January 1876,

Sauveterre-de-Béarn Sauveterre-de-Béarn (, literally ''Sauveterre of Béarn''; ; ) is a medieval village perched above the Gave d'Oloron and facing the Pyrenees in south-western France. It is a Communes of France, commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques Departments ...

– 24 February 1960 in

Saint-Étienne Saint-Étienne (; Franco-Provençal: ''Sant-Etiève''), also written St. Etienne, is a city and the prefecture of the Loire département, in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regi ...

) was a French

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

and

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

. Bérard was Minister of Public Instruction in 1919 and from 1921 to 1924, and

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

from 1931 to 1932. He was elected to the

Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

in 1934. He was the Ambassador from

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, ...

to the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

from 1940 to 1945. During his time as

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

, he was called upon by

Édouard Daladier Édouard Daladier (; 18 June 1884 – 10 October 1970) was a French Radical Party (France), Radical-Socialist (centre-left) politician, who was the Prime Minister of France in 1933, 1934 and again from 1938 to 1940. he signed the Munich Agreeme ...

in early February 1939 to travel to

Burgos Burgos () is a city in Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populous municipality of the province of Burgos. Burgos is situated in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, on the confluence of th ...

, then under control of the Spanish Nationalists during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

, which was drawing to its conclusion and Nationalist victory, to secure a treaty with

Francoist Spain Francoist Spain (), also known as the Francoist dictatorship (), or Nationalist Spain () was the period of Spanish history between 1936 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death i ...

. France had previously provided tentative support to the Spanish Republicans, but was now forced to make deals with the soon to be victorious Nationalist government on the question of refugees from the

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

region. More than 400,000 refugees had flooded into south-eastern France since the beginning of 1939. The resulting treaty, the

Bérard-Jordana Agreement The Bérard-Jordana Agreement ( French: ''Accords Bérard-Jordana'', Spanish: ''Acuerdo Bérard-Jordana''), also called Berard-Jordan Agreement in English, was a political treaty signed by France and Spain in Burgos on 25 February 1939. Its name ...

, was signed on 25 February 1939 and signalled French recognition of the Francoist government in Spain. Soon after, the governments of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

(27 February) and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

(7 April) also recognized Franco's government as legitimate.

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 ...

became French ambassador to Spain and oversaw the implementation of the treaty. He was awarded Order of the White Eagle.

Opposition to Esperanto

Bérard was strongly opposed to

Esperanto Esperanto (, ) is the world's most widely spoken Constructed language, constructed international auxiliary language. Created by L. L. Zamenhof in 1887 to be 'the International Language' (), it is intended to be a universal second language for ...

, which he considered an instrument of Internationalism and a potential rival of French as a diplomatic language. As Minister of Public Instruction, he banned the teaching or the promotion of Esperanto in public schools, and he had a prominent role in the rejection by the

League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...

of a resolution in favor of the adoption of Esperanto as an auxiliary international language.Edmond Privat (1927) ''Historio de la lingvo esperanto'', Internacia Esperanto Instituto, pp. 148–149.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berard, Leon 1876 births 1960 deaths People from Béarn Politicians from Nouvelle-Aquitaine Democratic Republican Alliance politicians Ministers of national education of France Ministers of justice of France Members of the 10th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Members of the 11th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Members of the 12th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Members of the 13th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic French senators of the Third Republic People of Vichy France Ambassadors of France to the Holy See Members of the Académie Française Senators of Pyrénées-Atlantiques