Alain Poher
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Alain Poher | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Poher in the 1980s | |
| Acting President of France | |
| In office 2 April 1974 – 27 May 1974 | |
| Prime Minister | Pierre Messmer |
| Preceded by | Georges Pompidou |
| Succeeded by | Valéry Giscard d'Estaing |
| In office 28 April 1969 – 20 June 1969 | |
| Prime Minister | Maurice Couve de Murville |
| Preceded by | Charles de Gaulle |
| Succeeded by | Georges Pompidou |
| President of the Senate | |
| In office 3 October 1968 – 1 October 1992 | |
| Preceded by | Gaston Monnerville |
| Succeeded by | René Monory |
| 7th President of the European Parliament | |
| In office 7 March 1966 – 11 March 1969 | |
| Preceded by | Victor Leemans |
| Succeeded by | Mario Scelba |
| Senator | |
| In office 18 May 1952 – 1 October 1995 | |
| Constituency | Seine-et-Oise (1952–1968) Val-de-Marne (1968–1995) |
| In office 8 December 1946 – 7 November 1948 | |
| Constituency | Seine-et-Oise |
| Mayor of Ablon-sur-Seine | |
| In office 18 May 1945 – March 1983 | |
| Preceded by | Édouard Désiré Juvigny |
| Succeeded by | Jean-Pierre Hermellin |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Alain Émile Louis Marie Poher 17 April 1909 |
| Died | 9 December 1996 (aged 87) |
| Party | Popular Republican Movement (1946–1966) Democratic Centre (1966–1976) Centre of Social Democrats (1976–1995) Democratic Force (1995–1996) |
| Other political affiliations | Union for French Democracy (1978–1996) |
| Spouse | Henriette Tugler |
| Children | 2 |
| Alma mater | Mines ParisTech Sciences Po |
| Occupation | Engineer, civil servant |
| Signature |  |
Alain Émile Louis Marie Poher (French: [alɛ̃ pɔɛʁ]; 17 April 1909 – 9 December 1996) was a French politician who served as President of the Senate from 1968 to 1992. In this capacity, he was twice briefly acting President of France, in 1969 and 1974 following the resignation of Charles de Gaulle and the death of Georges Pompidou, respectively. Poher was affiliated with the Popular Republican Movement (MRP) until 1966 and later with the Democratic Centre (CD) and Centre of Social Democrats (CSD), which he joined in 1976.
A native of Ablon-sur-Seine south of Paris, Poher was a longtime member of the Senate (1946–1948; 1952–1995), where he sat first for Seine-et-Oise until 1968 and then Val-de-Marne. He also served as President of the European Parliament from 1966 to 1969. As the longest-serving President of the Senate and the sole unelected President of France under the Fifth Republic, Poher remained an influential figure in 20th-century French politics. He ran in the 1969 presidential election but was defeated by Pompidou in the second round.
Poher died at the age of 87 in 1996, a year after his retirement from the Senate.[1]
Poher was born in Ablon-sur-Seine, current-day Val-de-Marne, to a family from Brittany.[2]
He graduated from the Lycée Louis-le-Grand and the Lycée Saint-Louis in Paris and later studied law. On 19 August 1938 he married Henriette Tugler (1907–2004) in La Baule-Escoublac, with whom he had two daughters, Marie-Agnès (born 1940) and Marie-Thérèse (1944–2002).[2]
His administrative career began in 1938 when he became a junior executive officer at the Ministry of Finance.[2] In World War II, he was wounded in combat after being sent to the front lines to defend against the German invasion. Later, he became a member of the French Resistance against Nazi Germany.[3]
In the aftermath of the Liberation of France, he served in several political positions prior to entering the Senate: chairman at the Ministry of Finance's Liberation Committee (from 20 July 1944);[2] head of Social Services, Ministry of Finance (from 1 January 1945);[2] and Mayor of Ablon-sur-Seine (from 18 May 1945).[2]
He was also General Commissioner for German and Austrian Affairs (1948–1950); Secretary of State for the Budget in the second government of Prime Minister Robert Schuman and first government of Prime Minister Henri Queuille (1948);[2] Secretary of State for the Armed Forces (Navy) in the government of Prime Minister Félix Gaillard (1957–1958); and president of the Association des maires de France or AMF (1974–1983).[3]
A longtime ally and political protégé of Schuman,[4] Poher was reelected to the Senate in 1952,[2] where he remained for over 40 years, until 1995. As a Senator, he continued to serve in government (as Secretary of State for the Armed Forces, tasked with the Navy, in the government of Prime Minister Félix Gaillard in the late 1950s), in addition to his duties as mayor of his home town, Ablon-sur-Seine. Like Schuman, he was known for strongly pro-European integration positions; he served as President of the European Parliament from 1966 to 1969.[5]
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