René Journiac (

Saint-Martin-Vésubie Saint-Martin-Vésubie (; Vivaro-Alpine: ''Sant Martin de Lantosca''; ) is a commune of the Alpes-Maritimes department, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southeastern France. Established on the edge of a glacial plate, it had a population ...

, 11 May 1921 –

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

, 6 February 1980) was a French magistrate and high functionary. He served as a prominent counsellor on

African affairs ''African Affairs'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal published quarterly by Oxford University Press on behalf of the London-based Royal African Society. The journal covers any Africa-related topic: political, social, economic, environmental a ...

and as leader of the government's "" during the presidency of

Valéry Giscard d'Estaing Valéry René Marie Georges Giscard d'Estaing (, ; ; 2 February 19262 December 2020), also known as simply Giscard or VGE, was a French politician who served as President of France from 1974 to 1981. After serving as Ministry of the Economy ...

. Journiac first rose to power under

Georges Pompidou Georges Jean Raymond Pompidou ( ; ; 5 July 19112 April 1974) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1969 until his death in 1974. He previously served as Prime Minister of France under President Charles de Gaulle from 19 ...

as a right-hand man of Jacques Foccart and was seen as perpetuating the latter's approach of maintaining French influence in its former colonies through a web of personal relationships with African strongmen. This led the French historian Pascal Geneste to quip that "what Foccart was to

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 ...

, Journiac is to Pompidou". After the election of Giscard in 1974, Journiac largely took over Foccart's functions in the Secretariat for African and Malagasy Affairs; the latter was renamed to the African Department. The main instigator of strong relations with

Mobutu Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu wa za Banga ( ; born Joseph-Désiré Mobutu; 14 October 1930 – 7 September 1997), often shortened to Mobutu Sese Seko or Mobutu and also known by his initials MSS, was a Congolese politician and military officer ...

Zaire Zaire, officially the Republic of Zaire, was the name of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1971 to 18 May 1997. Located in Central Africa, it was, by area, the third-largest country in Africa after Sudan and Algeria, and the 11th-la ...

, he signed a

defense pact A defense pact ( Commonwealth spelling: defence pact) is a type of treaty or military alliance in which the signatories promise to support each other militarily and to defend each other.Volker Krause, J. David Singer "Minor Powers, Alliances, And ...

with the Zairese regime in 1974 which gave way to substantial French aid to Mobutu during the 1977 civil war. In 1977, documents forgotten by the

mercenary A mercenary is a private individual who joins an armed conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any other official military. Mercenaries fight for money or other forms of payment rather t ...

Bob Denard during a coup attempt in

Benin Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its po ...

revealed the complicity of Journiac (alongside

Omar Bongo Omar Bongo Ondimba (born Albert-Bernard Bongo; 30 December 1935 – 8 June 2009) was a Gabonese politician who was the second president of Gabon from 1967 until Death and state funeral of Omar Bongo, his death in 2009. A member of the Gabonese De ...

Hassan II Hassan, Hasan, Hassane, Haasana, Hassaan, Asan, Hassun, Hasun, Hassen, Hasson or Hasani may refer to: People *Hassan (given name), Arabic given name and a list of people with that given name *Hassan (surname), Arabic, Jewish, Irish, and Scotti ...

and

Gnassingbé Eyadéma Gnassingbé Eyadéma (; born Étienne Eyadéma Gnassingbé, 26 December 1935 – 5 February 2005) was a Togolese military officer and politician who served as the third president of Togo from 1967 until his death in 2005, after which he was immed ...

) in the attempt. He was also closely involved in Operation Tacaud in

Chad Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North Africa, North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to Chad–Libya border, the north, Sudan to Chad–Sudan border, the east, the Central Afric ...

and played an important role in negotiating with Jean-Bédel Bokassa (who allegedly threatened to beat Journiac with his cane when the latter proposed that he step down) in the period that built up to the French-orchestrated 1979 coup. In 1980, while travelling in a Gabonese airplane piloted by a nephew of Omar Bongo, Journiac's plane crashed in

, killing him. Martin Kirsch briefly succeeded him as head of the African Department before being replaced by .

References

{{reflist 1921 births 1980 deaths People from Alpes-Maritimes 20th-century French politicians Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Cameroon Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1980