Guy Petit
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Guy Jacques Joseph Petit | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Minister of Commerce | |
| In office 11 February 1953 – 28 June 1953 | |
| Preceded by | Paul Ribeyre |
| Succeeded by | Jean-Marie Louvel |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 23 November 1905 Biarritz, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France |
| Died | 31 October 1988 (aged 82) Biarritz, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France |
| Occupation | Lawyer, journalist |
Guy Jacques Joseph Petit (23 November 1905 – 31 October 1988) was a French lawyer, journalist and politician who was a deputy in the French Fourth Republic from 1946 to 1958. He was Minister of Commerce in 1953. He was a senator in the French Fifth Republic from 1959 to 1983. He was also the mayor of Biarritz for many years, and did much to promote tourism in that town and the surrounding region.
Guy Petit was born on 23 November 1905 in Biarritz, Basses-Pyrénées. When he was fourteen his father was elected mayor of Biarritz. Petit received his secondary education in Bayonne, then studied law. He became an attorney, first in Bayonne and then in Paris. He joined the right-wing French Social Party (Parti Social Français, PSF) led by Colonel François de La Rocque in the Basque country, and was vice president and then head of propaganda of the party.[1]
Petit was mobilized in September 1939 at the start of World War II (1939–45). He was discharged due to illness in January 1940, but voluntarily reenlisted on 5 June 1940. During the German occupation of France he joined the French Resistance. When the Gestapo made inquiries about him in March 1943 he went underground and joined the French Forces of the Interior.[1]
