René Pleven

Son of Jules Pleven, army officer, who taught at the Military Academy of Saint-Cyr (École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr); attended public schools at Rennes (until 1911) and Laval (1912-1917); graduated from the faculty of law in Paris (1920); received doctor's degree (1924) and diploma from the Free School of Political Science (École libre des Sciences politiques); editor-in-chief of the Conserverie française (1924-1925); worked for the Blair and Co. Foreign Corp (1926-1929), Paris branch of the U.S. investment company; held executive positions in the European branch of the Automatic Telephone Company (1929-1939) in London; was mobilized (1939) and served in the Air Force; engaged in weapon procurement activities in the U.S.; joined Charles de Gaulle and was made secretary general for the French Equatorial Africa (1940-1941) at Brazzaville, Congo; director of the department for external and economic affairs (1941); was appointed a member of the French National Committee of the Fighting France (Comité national français de la France combattante) (24 Sep 1941? - 3 Jun 1943); served as national commissioner for economy (24 Sep 1941 - 18 Oct 1942), finance (24 Sep 1941 - 28 Jul 1942), colonies (24 Sep 1941 - 7 Jun 1943), merchant navy (28 Jul 1942 - 18 Oct 1942) and foreign affairs (18 Oct 1942 - 7 Feb 1943); vice-president of the French National Committee (3 Aug 1942 - 3 Jun 1943?); member of the French Committee of National Liberation (Comité français de la Libération nationale) (7 Jun 1943 - 3 Jun 1944); commissioner for colonies (7 Jun 1943 - 10 Sep 1944); minister of colonies in the first Provisional Government (10 Sep 1944 - 16 Nov 1944), minister of finance (16 Nov 1944 - 26 Jan 1946); minister of national economy (6 Apr 1945 - 21 Nov 1945); elected a member of the first (1945-1946) and second (1946) Assemblée nationale constituante (Constituent National Assembly), representing Côtes-du-Nord; general counselor for Dinan-Est (1945-1976); was elected to the Assemblée nationale (National Assembly) as a deputy for Côtes-du-Nord (1946-1973); in 1946-1953 president of the Union Démocratique et Socialiste de la Résistance (Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance, UDSR), a centrist political party; president of the General Council of Côtes-du-Nord (1948-1976); minister of national defense (28 Oct 1949 - 12 Jul 1950, 8 Mar 1952 - 8 Jan 1953); sponsored the unsuccessful Pleven Plan (1950) for a unified European army, which laid the groundwork for NATO; President of the Council of Ministers (12 Jul 1950 - 10 Mar 1951, 11 Aug 1951 - 20 Jan 1952); Vice-President of the Council of Ministers (10 Mar 1951 - 11 Aug 1951); minister of national defense and armed forces (8 Jan 1953 - 19 Jun 1954); delegate of France to the Common Assembly (1956-1958), European Parliamentary Assembly (1958-1962) and European Parliament (1962-1969); minister of foreign affairs (14 May 1958 - 1 Jun 1958); minister of justice (22 Jun 1969 - 15 Mar 1973). Biography source: [7]