Georges Jean Raymond Pompidou (/ˈpɒmpɪduː/ POMP-id-oo; French: [ʒɔʁʒ(ə) pɔ̃pidu] ⓘ; 5 July 1911 – 2 April 1974) was President of France from 1969 until his death in 1974. He had previously served from 1962 to 1968 as Prime Minister of France under President Charles de Gaulle, with whom he was closely associated throughout his career.

In the context of the strong growth of the last years of the Trente Glorieuses, Pompidou continued De Gaulle's policy of modernisation, which was symbolised by the presidential use of the Concorde, the creation of large industrial groups and the launch of the high-speed train project (TGV). The government invested heavily in the automobile, agribusiness, steel, telecommunications, nuclear and aerospace sectors and also created the minimum wage (SMIC) and the Ministry of the Environment.

His foreign policy was pragmatic but in line with the Gaullist principle of French autonomy within the Western Bloc. It was marked by a warming of relations with Richard Nixon's United States, close relations with Leonid Brezhnev's Soviet Union, the launch of the 'snake in the tunnel' and the relaunching of European construction by facilitating the United Kingdom's entry to the EEC in contrast to de Gaulle's opposition. Pompidou died in office in 1974 of Waldenström's disease, a rare form of blood cancer.

An admirer of contemporary art, Pompidou's name remains known worldwide for the Centre Pompidou, which he initiated and which was inaugurated in 1977; it subsequently spread the name with its branches in Metz (France), Málaga (Spain), Brussels (Belgium) and Shanghai (China). A Georges Pompidou Museum is also dedicated to him in his hometown.

Early life

The family of Georges Pompidou was of very modest origins. He was the grandson of farmers of modest means in Cantal on both his father's and his mother's side. His case is thus often cited as a typical example of social mobility in the Third Republic because of public schooling.[2]

Georges Jean Raymond Pompidou was born on 5 July 1911[3] in the commune of Montboudif, in the department of Cantal, in south-central France.[4] After his hypokhâgne at Lycée Pierre-de-Fermat[5] and his khâgne at Lycée Louis-le-Grand, where he befriended the future Senegalese poet and statesman Léopold Sédar Senghor, Pompidou attended the École Normale Supérieure from which he graduated with a degree of agrégation in literature.

He first taught literature at the lycée Henri IV in Paris until he was hired in 1953 by Guy de Rothschild to work at Rothschild. In 1956, he was appointed the bank's general manager, a position that he held until 1962. Later, he was hired by Charles de Gaulle to manage the Anne de Gaulle Foundation for Down syndrome (de Gaulle's youngest daughter, Anne, had Down syndrome).

Prime minister

Pompidou (upper right) with US Vice President Hubert Humphrey, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin and Gemini 4 astronauts at the 1965 Paris Air Show

Jacques Chirac served as an aide to Prime Minister Pompidou and recalled:

Presidency

After the failure of the 1969 constitutional referendum, de Gaulle resigned and Pompidou was elected president of France.[9] In the general election of 15 June 1969, he defeated the centrist president of the Senate and acting president Alain Poher by a wide margin (58% to 42%).[10] Though a Gaullist, Pompidou was more pragmatic than de Gaulle, notably facilitating the accession of the United Kingdom to the European Community on 1 January 1973. He embarked on an industrialisation plan and initiated the Arianespace project, as well as the TGV project, and furthered the French civilian nuclear programme. He was sceptical about the "New Society" programme of his prime minister, Jacques Chaban-Delmas. In 1972, he replaced Chaban-Delmas with Pierre Messmer, a more conservative Gaullist. While the left-wing opposition organised itself and proposed a Common Programme before the 1973 legislative election, Pompidou widened his presidential majority by including Centrist pro-European parties. In addition, he paid special attention to regional and local needs in order to strengthen his political party, the UDR (Union des Democrates pour la Ve République), which he made a central and lasting force in the Gaullist movement.[11]

Foreign affairs

The United States was eager to restore positive relations with France after de Gaulle's departure from office. New US President Richard Nixon and his top adviser Henry Kissinger admired Pompidou; the politicians were in agreement on most major policy issues. The United States offered to help the French nuclear programme. Economic difficulties, however, arose following the Nixon Shock and the 1973–1975 recession, particularly over the role of the American dollar as the medium for world trade.[12]

Pompidou sought to maintain good relations with the newly independent former French colonies in Africa, relying on such powerful figures as Jacques Foccart and René Journiac who maintained informal networks with African strongmen.[13][14] In 1971, he visited Mauritania, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, and Gabon. He brought a message of cooperation and financial assistance, but without the traditional paternalism. More broadly, he made an effort to foster closer relations with North African and Middle Eastern countries in order to develop a hinterland including all nations bordering the Mediterranean.[15]

Modernising Paris

Pompidou's time in office was marked by constant efforts to modernise France's capital city. He spearheaded construction of a modern art museum, the Centre Beaubourg (renamed Centre Pompidou after his death), on the edge of the Marais area of Paris. Other attempts at modernisation included tearing down the open-air markets at Les Halles and replacing them with the shopping mall of the same name, building the Montparnasse Tower, and constructing an expressway on the right bank of the Seine.

Death in office

The grave of Georges and Claude Pompidou in Orvilliers

While still in office, Pompidou died on 2 April 1974 at his apartment,[16] from Waldenström macroglobulinemia. Although his illness had not been disclosed and the government officially denied any health problems, there were reports of ill health and speculation of possible cancer during his last year in office. However, even on the day of his death, Pompidou had a visit scheduled from Rwandan President Grégoire Kayibanda.[16]

His body was buried on 4 April, in the churchyard of Orvilliers, where he had bought an old baker's house which he turned into a weekend home.[17] The official memorial service for him was held at Notre-Dame de Paris with 3,000 dignitaries in attendance, including foreign heads of state. April 6 was declared a national day of mourning and entertainment and cultural events were canceled, theatres and schools closed.[18][19]

A controversy arose surrounding the secrecy kept over Pompidou's illness, and the political class agreed that future presidents would have to provide reports on the state of their health; however, President François Mitterrand, who had pledged during his 1981 campaign to publish regular health bulletins, would also conceal the severity of his cancer during his presidency.[20]

Personal life

Pompidou was married to Claude Cahour, who would outlive him by more than thirty years.[21] The couple adopted a son, Alain Pompidou, who went on to serve as a Member of the European Parliament and, later, as president of the European Patent Office.[21]

Works

  • Anthologie de la Poésie Française, Livre de Poche/Hachette, 1961
  • Le Nœud gordien, éd. Plon, 1974
  • Entretiens et discours, deux vol., éd. Plon, 1975
  • Pour rétablir une vérité, éd. Flammarion, 1982

Awards and honours

Presidential standard of Georges Pompidou

French honours

Legion of Honour
  • Grand Master (1969 to 1974, as president of the republic)
  • Grand Cross (1969)[22]
  • Officer (1957)
  • Knight (1948)
National Order of Merit
  • Grand Master (1969 to 1974, as president of the republic)
  • Grand Cross (1969)[22]

Foreign honours

Honors

He was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Delhi during his tenure as prime minister.[25]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Alain Poher served as acting president from de Gaulle's resignation until Pompidou took office.
  2. ↑ Poher again served as acting president from Pompidou's death until Giscard d'Estaing took office.

References

  1. ↑ Ministère des armées - 92è Régiment d'infantrie
  2. ↑ e Georges Pompidou georges-pompidou.org Archived 4 November 2021 at the Wayback Machine Centenaire de la naissance du président Georges Pompidou 1911-2011, Repères biographiques de Georges Pompidou (p. 18), Centre Pompidou, direction de la communication, dossier de presse.
  3. ↑ "Fichier des décès – années 1970 à 1979" [Death file – years 1970 to 1979] (in French). National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  4. ↑ Wall, E. H. (1976). "Pompidou, Georges Jean Raymond". In William D. Halsey (ed.). Collier's Encyclopedia. Vol. 19. Macmillan Educational Corporation. p. 236.
  5. ↑ "Toulouse : Une plaque en mémoire de Georges Pompidou au lycée Fermat".
  6. ↑ Jacques Chirac, M Life and Politics (2011) p. 24
  7. ↑ "France in political crisis after no-confidence vote topples government". The Guardian. 4 December 2024. Archived from the original on 9 December 2024. Retrieved 9 December 2024.
  8. ↑ Kresl, Peter Karl; Gallais, Sylvain (1 January 2002). France Encounters Globalization. Edward Elgar Publishing. ISBN 9781782543800. Archived from the original on 1 August 2020. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
  9. ↑ Robert J. Jackson, "The Succession of Georges Pompidou: The French presidential election of 1969, Political Quarterly (1970) 41#2 pp 156-168
  10. ↑ Berstein, Serge; Rioux, Jean-Pierre (2000). The Cambridge History of Modern France: The Pompidou Years, 1969–1974. Cambridge University Press. pp. 14–15. ISBN 9780521580618. Archived from the original on 17 June 2016. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  11. ↑ Frank L. Wilson, "Gaullism without de Gaulle," Western Political Quarterly (1973) 26#3 pp. 485–506 in JSTOR Archived 2 August 2020 at the Wayback Machine
  12. ↑ Trachtenberg, 2001
  13. ↑ Johnson, Douglas (20 March 1997). "Obituary: Jacques Foccart". The Independent. Independent Print Limited. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
  14. ↑ Servenay, David (2023). "Foccart, Marenches, Journiac : trois « crocodiles » dans le marigot du renseignement franco-africain". In Borrel, Thomas; Boukari-Yabara, Amzat; Collombat, Benoît; Deltombe, Thomas (eds.). Une histoire de la Françafrique: L'empire qui ne veut pas mourir. Seuil. pp. 504–505. ISBN 9782757897751.
  15. ↑ Edward A. Kolodziej, French Foreign Policy under de Gaulle and Pompidou: The Politics of Grandeur (1974).
  16. 1 2 Robertson, Nan (3 April 1974). "President Pompidou Dead after almost Five Years as De Gaulle's Successor". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 3 April 2019. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  17. ↑ Kamm, Henry (5 April 1974). "Pompidou is Buried in Village Cemetery". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 3 April 2019. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  18. ↑ "Décret du 3 avril 1974 FIXANT LE SAMEDI 6 AVRIL 1974 JOUR DE DEUIL NATIONAL EN RAISON DU DECES DE M. GEORGES POMPIDOU, PRESIDENT DE LA REPUBLIQUE - Légifrance". Retrieved 20 November 2023.
  19. ↑ "French Proclaim Poher President". The New York Times. 4 April 1974.
  20. ↑ Philippe Kohly, documentary La France maladie du pouvoir, in Histoire immédiate, 2012.
  21. 1 2 "Claude Pompidou". The Daily Telegraph. 5 July 2007. Archived from the original on 3 April 2019. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  22. 1 2 He owned this decoration by right as President of the Republic.
  23. ↑ "Van 19 tot en met 20 november zal het inkomend staatsbezoek van Frankrijk van Zijne Excellentie de heer Emmanuel Macron, President van de Franse Republiek en mevrouw Brigitte Macron aan België plaatsvinden". Twitter. Archived from the original on 4 August 2021. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
  24. ↑ "Le onorificenze della Repubblica Italiana". Archived from the original on 25 January 2020. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
  25. ↑ "François Hollande devient docteur honoris causa par l'université d'Athènes". le figaro. 22 October 2015.

Further reading

Offices and titles

source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georges_Pompidou