Léon Solomiac (19 October 1873 in

Cajarc Cajarc () is a commune in the Lot department, Occitania Occitania is the historical region in Southern Europe where the Occitan language was historically spoken and where it is sometimes used as a second language. This cultural area rou ...

– 10 May 1960 in

Cannes Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...

) was a colonial administrator in various colonies of the

French Colonial Empire The French colonial empire () comprised the overseas Colony, colonies, protectorates, and League of Nations mandate, mandate territories that came under French rule from the 16th century onward. A distinction is generally made between the "Firs ...

Life

Solomiac was a son of a

shopkeeper A shopkeeper is a retail merchant or tradesman; one who owns or operates a small store or shop. Generally, shop employees are not shopkeepers, but are often incorrectly referred to as such. At larger companies, a shopkeeper is usually referred t ...

. In the course of his career in the French colonial service, he was appointed in July 1925 as a delegate in Beirut then in 1930 in Damascus, during the

French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon The Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon (; , also referred to as the Levant States; 1923−1946) was a League of Nations mandate founded in the aftermath of the First World War and the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire, concerning the territori ...

. After the deposition of Taj al-Din al-Hasani, Solomiac officiated on 19 November 1931 as head of state of the Syrian Republic until 11 June 1932, when Mohammed Ali al-Abed was elected by the Syrian Parliament to the presidency. Later on, Solomiac went to Africa in which he became the governor of

French Sudan French Sudan (; ') was a French colonial territory in the Federation of French West Africa from around 1880 until 1959, when it joined the Mali Federation, and then in 1960, when it became the independent state of Mali. The colony was formall ...

from 22 May to 30 November 1933 on an interim basis. On 15 August 1934 he became the successor of François Adrien Juvanon as a governor of

French India French India, formally the (), was a French colony comprising five geographically separated enclaves on the Indian subcontinent that had initially been factories of the French East India Company. They were ''de facto'' incorporated into the ...

, he held this position until October 1936. On 21 April 1939 he became the Governor-General of

French Equatorial Africa French Equatorial Africa (, or AEF) was a federation of French colonial territories in Equatorial Africa which consisted of Gabon, French Congo, Ubangi-Shari, and Chad. It existed from 1910 to 1958 and its administration was based in Brazzav ...

, he remained in office until 3 September 1939. On 7 November 1940 Solomiac took over from Jean Alexandre Léon Rapenne the interim post of Governor of

Niger Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...

. However, he was deposed by 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 ...

as being not loyal to them, and was replaced on 8 December 1940 by General Maurice Falvy. In August 1944, Léon Solomiac was entrusted with the management of official duties of the prefecture of Tarn. He was the "Prefect of the

Libération (), 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 in France, May 1968. Initially positioned on the far left of Fr ...

", replacing a prefect appointed by the Vichy regime in July 1944, and was in office until early 1946.

References

1873 births 1960 deaths Colonial governors of French Mali Colonial governors of French Niger Governors of French Equatorial Africa Governors of French India People of French West Africa {{France-politician-stub