Georges Pompidou (1911 - 1974) was a French statesman who served as prime minister from 1962 to 1968 and as president of France from 1969 until his death in office in 1974. [1] A literature teacher and banker before entering politics, he was Charles de Gaulle's closest collaborator and successor, and directed a programme of industrial modernisation and European enlargement. [2]
Early life and education
Pompidou was born on 5 July 1911 in Montboudif, a village in the Cantal department of central France, the son of schoolteachers. [1] He studied at the lycée Pierre-de-Fermat in Toulouse and the Lycée Louis-le-Grand in Paris before entering the École Normale Supérieure, where he took the agrégation in literature. He also studied at the Paris Institute of Political Studies.
He taught French literature at lycées in Marseille and Paris during the 1930s and served in the French army in 1939 and 1940, later receiving the Croix de guerre. [1] A cultivated reader with a lifelong interest in poetry and modern art, he edited an anthology of French verse that remained in print for decades.
Rise in public life
In 1944 Pompidou joined the staff of Charles de Gaulle, then head of the provisional government, beginning an association that shaped the rest of his career. [2] When de Gaulle withdrew from politics, Pompidou managed his affairs and the Anne de Gaulle Foundation, and from 1954 worked at the Rothschild bank in Paris, eventually becoming its director general.
He returned to government with de Gaulle's own return during the Algerian crisis of 1958, helping to draft the constitution of the Fifth Republic and taking part in the confidential negotiations that led to the Évian Accords ending the Algerian War. [1]
Prime minister
De Gaulle appointed Pompidou prime minister in April 1962, an unconventional choice for a man who had never held elective office. [2] He remained in the post for more than six years, the longest tenure under the Fifth Republic, overseeing a period of sustained economic growth.
His handling of the student and worker uprising of May 1968 proved decisive: he negotiated the Grenelle agreements with the unions, advised dissolution of the National Assembly, and led the Gaullists to a landslide victory in the ensuing elections. [1] De Gaulle nonetheless replaced him shortly afterwards, and Pompidou made clear his own presidential ambitions.
Presidency
After de Gaulle resigned in April 1969 following a lost referendum, Pompidou was elected president in June of that year. [2] His administration prioritised industrialisation, infrastructure and the competitiveness of French firms, and he devalued the franc to restore the country's trading position. He reversed de Gaulle's veto on British membership of the European Communities, and the United Kingdom, Ireland and Denmark joined in 1973. [3]
A patron of contemporary art and architecture, he initiated the modern art complex in the Beaubourg district of Paris that opened in 1977 as the Centre Georges Pompidou. [4] His final years in office were marked by the oil shock of 1973 and by visibly declining health; he died in Paris on 2 April 1974 while still in office, of a blood disorder that had been concealed from the public.
Legacy
Pompidou is remembered as the architect of France's late industrial boom and as the president who opened the European Community to Britain. [3] The Centre Pompidou, one of the most visited cultural institutions in Europe, remains his most visible memorial, and the airport and cultural foundations bearing his name reflect his standing in French public life. [4]
