PROFILPELAJAR.COM

Maurice Couve de Murville
Maurice Couve de Murville
Prime Minister of France
	In office; 10 July 1968 – 20 June 1969
President	Charles de Gaulle; Alain Poher (Acting)
Preceded by	Georges Pompidou
Succeeded by	Jacques Chaban-Delmas
Minister of Economy and Finance
	In office; 31 May 1968 – 10 July 1968
Prime Minister	Georges Pompidou
Preceded by	Michel Debré
Succeeded by	François-Xavier Ortoli
Minister of Foreign Affairs
	In office; 1 June 1958 – 30 May 1968
Prime Minister	Charles de Gaulle; Michel Debré; Georges Pompidou
Preceded by	René Pleven
Succeeded by	Michel Debré
Senator for Paris
	In office; 28 September 1986 – 1 October 1995
Member of the National Assembly ; for Paris 6th constituency
	In office; 11 March 1973 – 1 April 1986
Preceded by	Raymond Bousquet
Succeeded by	Constituency abolished
	In office; 23 June 1968 – 10 August 1968
Preceded by	Raymond Bousquet
Succeeded by	Raymond Bousquet
Personal details
Born	Maurice Couve; 24 January 1907; Reims, France
Died	24 December 1999 (aged 92); Paris, France
Political party	UDR
Spouse	Jacqueline Schweisguth
Children	Juliette ; Dorothée ; Béatrice
Occupation	Military; Diplomat; Civil Servant; Politician

Jacques-Maurice Couve de Murville (French: [mɔʁis kuv də myʁvil, moʁ-]; 24 January 1907 – 24 December 1999) was a French diplomat and politician who was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1958 to 1968 and Prime Minister from 1968 to 1969 under the presidency of General de Gaulle. As foreign minister he played the leading role in the critical Franco-German treaty of cooperation in 1963, he laid the foundation for the Paris-Bonn axis that was central in building a united Europe.

Life

He was born Maurice Couve (his father acquired the name de Murville in 1925^[1]) in Reims. Maurice Couve de Murville, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Birmingham (1929–2007), was his cousin.

Couve de Murville joined the corps of finance inspectors in 1930, and in 1940 became Director of External Finances of the Vichy régime, in which capacity he sat at the armistice council of Wiesbaden. In March 1943, after the American landing in North Africa, he was one of the few senior officials of Vichy to join the Free French. He left for Algiers, via Spain, where he joined General Henri Giraud. On 7 June 1943, he was named commissioner of finance of the French Committee of National Liberation (CFLN). A few months later, he joined General Charles de Gaulle. In February 1945, he became a member of the Provisional Government of the French Republic (GPRF) with the rank of ambassador attached to the Italian government.

After the war, he occupied several posts as French Ambassador, in Cairo (1950 to 1954), at NATO (1954), in Washington (1955 to 1956) and in Bonn (1956 to 1958). When General de Gaulle returned to power in 1958, he became Foreign Minister, a post he retained for ten years until the reshuffle that followed the events of May 1968 where he replaced Finance minister Michel Debré, keeping this post only a short time: very soon after the elections, he became a transitional Prime Minister, replacing Georges Pompidou. The following year he was succeeded by Jacques Chaban-Delmas.

Couve de Murville continued his political career first as a UDR deputy, then RPR deputy for Paris until 1986, then as a senator until 1995. He died in Paris at the age of 92 from natural causes.

Political career

Governmental functions

Prime minister : 1968–1969

Minister of Foreign Affairs : 1958–1968

Minister of Economy and Finance : May–July 1968

Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Assembly 1973–1981.

Electoral mandates

Member of the National Assembly of France for Paris : June 1968 (He left his seat when he became a minister) / 1973–1986

Senator of Paris : 1986–1995

Couve de Murville's Government

The cabinet from 10 July 1968 – 20 June 1969

Maurice Couve de Murville – Prime Minister
Michel Debré – Minister of Foreign Affairs
Pierre Messmer – Minister of Armies
Raymond Marcellin – Minister of the Interior, Public Health, and Population
François-Xavier Ortoli – Minister of Economy and Finance
André Bettencourt – Minister of Industry
Joseph Fontanet – Minister of Labour, Employment, and Population
René Capitant – Minister of Justice
Edgar Faure – Minister of National Education
Henri Duvillard – Minister of Veterans and War Victims
André Malraux – Minister of Cultural Affairs
Robert Boulin – Minister of Agriculture
Albin Chalandon – Minister of Equipment and Housing
Jean Chamant – Minister of Transport
Roger Frey – Minister of Relations with Parliament
Yves Guéna – Minister of Posts and Telecommunications
Maurice Schumann – Minister of Social Affairs

On 28 April 1969 – Jean-Marcel Jeanneney succeeded Capitant as interim Minister of Justice.

Published works

Une politique étrangère, 1958–1969 (1971). ISBN unknown
Le Monde en face (1989). ISBN 2-259-02222-7

References

^ Obituary: Maurice Couve de Murville Archived 14 December 2021 at the Wayback Machine, The Independent, 27 December 1999

External links

A film clip "Longines Chronoscope with Maurice Couve de Murville" is available for viewing at the Internet Archive

Political offices
Preceded by André Diethelm	Free French Commissioner for Finance 1943	Succeeded by Pierre Mendès-France
Preceded by René Pleven	Minister of Foreign Affairs 1958–1968	Succeeded by Michel Debré
Preceded by Michel Debré	Minister of Economy and Finance 1968	Succeeded by François-Xavier Ortoli
Preceded by Georges Pompidou	Prime Minister of France 1968–1969	Succeeded by Jacques Chaban-Delmas