Pierre Mendès France

Pierre Mendès France
Mendès France in 1948
Prime Minister of France
In office
18 June 1954  23 February 1955
PresidentRené Coty
Preceded byJoseph Laniel
Succeeded byEdgar Faure
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office
18 June 1954  20 January 1955
Prime MinisterHimself
Preceded byGeorges Bidault
Succeeded byEdgar Faure
Mayor of Louviers
In office
13 March 1953  27 November 1958
Preceded byMarcel Malherbe
Succeeded byAndré Vincelot
In office
17 May 1935  20 September 1939
Preceded byRaoul Thorel
Succeeded byAuguste Fromentin
President of the General Council of Eure
In office
6 October 1945  6 December 1958
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byGustave Héon
Minister of National Economics
In office
4 September 1944  6 April 1945
Prime MinisterCharles de Gaulle
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byRené Pleven
Commissioner for Finances
In office
3 November 1943  4 September 1944
PresidentCharles de Gaulle
Preceded byMaurice Couve de Murville
Succeeded byAimé Lepercq
Personal details
Born
Pierre Isaac Isidore Mendès France

(1907-01-11)11 January 1907
Paris, France
Died18 October 1982(1982-10-18) (aged 75)
Paris, France
Political partyRadical (1924–1959)
Autonomous Socialist (1959–1960)
Unified Socialist (1960–1971)
Spouses
Lily Cicurel
(m. 1933; died 1967)
    Marie-Claire Servan-Schreiber
    (m. 1971)
    Children2
    Alma materUniversity of Paris

    Pierre Isaac Isidore Mendès France (French: [pjɛʁ mɑ̃dɛs fʁɑ̃s]; 11 January 1907  18 October 1982) was a French politician who served as prime minister of France for eight months from 1954 to 1955. As a member of the Radical Party, he headed a government supported by a coalition of Gaullists (RPF), moderate socialists (UDSR), Christian democrats (MRP) and liberal-conservatives (CNIP). Pierre-Mendès France is primarily remembered as the French Prime Minister who was in office at the outbreak of the Algerian independence war in 1954. During his tenure, France initiated close military cooperation with Israel, selling arms and aircraft to the young state. Mendès-France laid the groundwork for France’s military nuclear program and the early transfer of nuclear technology to Israel.