biography
| name: |
Mendès-France, Pierre
|
pronunciation:
[mendez frãs
| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (1907–82)
|
| biography:
| French statesman and prime minister (1954–5), born in Paris, France. A lawyer, he entered parliament in 1932, was imprisoned by the Vichy government, and in 1941 escaped to join the Free French forces in England. He was minister for national economy under Charles de Gaulle in 1945, and became a prominent member of the Radical Party. As prime minister, he ended the war in Indo-China, but his government was defeated on its N African policy. A firm critic of de Gaulle, he lost his seat in the 1958 election. He became increasingly opposed to the autocratic use of presidential power by de Gaulle, and retired from political life in 1973. |
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