Christian Fouchet

Christian Fouchet
Minister of the Interior
In office
6 April 1967 – 31 May 1968
PresidentCharles de Gaulle
Prime MinisterGeorges Pompidou
Preceded byRoger Frey
Succeeded byRaymond Marcellin
Minister of National Education
In office
28 November 1962 – 6 April 1967
PresidentCharles de Gaulle
Prime MinisterGeorges Pompidou
Preceded byLouis Joxe
Succeeded byAlain Peyrefitte
Minister for Moroccan and Tunisian Affairs
In office
18 June 1954 – 5 February 1955
PresidentRené Coty
Prime MinisterPierre Mendès France
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byPierre July
Personal details
Born
Christian Marie Joseph Fouchet

17 November 1911
Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Seine-et-Oise, France
Died11 August 1974 (aged 62)
Geneva, Switzerland
Resting placePère Lachaise Cemetery
Political partyRally of the French People
Union for the New Republic
Union of Democrats for the Republic
ChildrenLorraine Fouchet

Christian Marie Joseph Fouchet (French pronunciation: [kʁistjɑ̃ fuʃɛ]; 17 November 1911 – 11 August 1974) was a French politician.[1]

Biography

The son of a cavalry officer, Fouchet was born in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Seine-et-Oise (today Yvelines).[1] He graduated from the École libre des sciences politiques with a degree in law and a diploma in political economy.[2][3]

Shortly before the outbreak of World War II, Fouchet was mobilized into the French Air Force. After Marshal Philippe Pétain's request for an armistice with Nazi Germany on 17 June 1940, Fouchet boarded a London-bound British airplane to offer his services to General Charles de Gaulle and the Free French forces; after further training, he was made a sub-lieutenant in the Free French Air Forces.[3] His missions primarily involved liaison work between the Free French in London and the resistance movement in France.[2] Fouchet received his first diplomatic assignment in 1944, when he was assigned as a secretary at the French embassy in Moscow. In 1945 he represented de Gaulle's provisional government before the provisional Polish government in Lublin. He subsequently served as Consul General in India until 1947, and then as a member of the directing committee of the Rally of the French People (RPF) until 1951. [2]

From 1951, Fouchet served as a deputy for the RPF in the National Assembly, and from 1954 to 1955, he was Minister for Moroccan and Tunisian Affairs in the government of Pierre Mendès France.[2] After losing his seat in the National Assembly following the 1956 legislative election, Fouchet entered into foreign service. He was appointed French ambassador to Denmark on 12 July 1958 and would serve as such until 1962. In 1961–1962 he was tasked by de Gaulle with drafting the so-called Fouchet Plan, a proposal consisting of an intergovernmental "Union of States" as an alternative to the European Communities, whose increasing development towards a supranational union was viewed negatively by de Gaulle; the plan failed due to lack of support from other states, and opposition from the Benelux countries.[1]

From 19 March to 3 July 1962, Fouchet served as the last French colonial head of Algeria, following the Évian Accords. After his return to France, Fouchet was Minister of National Education from 28 November 1962 to 6 April 1967, and Minister of the Interior from 6 April 1967 to 31 May 1968, in the government of Georges Pompidou; he was forced to resign from the latter office after dispatching large numbers of riot troops to quell the protests of May 68.[4]

Described as a staunch Gaullist, Fouchet left the Union of Democrats for the Republic (UDR) in 1971, as he viewed the party as drifting away from the ideological heritage of de Gaulle. He died of a heart attack in Geneva in 1974.[4]

Fouchet was made a member of the Legion of Honour, as a knight in 1946 and as a commander in 1961. He was also awarded the Croix de Guerre, the Croix de la Valeur Militaire, the Croix of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Medal of the Resistance and the Medal of Free France.[2]

Personal life

Fouchet married Colette Vautrin in 1955;[2] they had one daughter, novelist Lorraine Fouchet.[4]

Honours and awards

National honours

Foreign honours

References

  1. ^ a b c "Christian Fouchet". Assemblée nationale. Retrieved 21 July 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "A Thorough Gaullist: Christian Fouchet". The New York Times. Vol. CXI, no. 38, 050, p. 4. 29 March 1962. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
  3. ^ a b "Papiers Christian Fouchet" (in French). Archives Nationales. Retrieved 21 July 2025.
  4. ^ a b c "Christian Fouchet Dies at 63; Gaullist Served in the Cabinet". The New York Times. 13 August 1974. Retrieved 21 July 2025.
  5. ^ "CONDECORADOS: ORDEN EL SOL DEL PERU". Slideshare.net. Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores. p. 58. Retrieved 21 July 2025.


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