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Albert Sarraut | |
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 Sarraut in 1932 | |
| Prime Minister of France | |
| In office 24 January 1936 – 4 June 1936 | |
| President | Albert Lebrun |
| Preceded by | Pierre Laval |
| Succeeded by | Léon Blum |
| In office 26 October 1933 – 26 November 1933 | |
| President | Albert Lebrun |
| Preceded by | Édouard Daladier |
| Succeeded by | Camille Chautemps |
| Governor-General ofFrench Indochina | |
| In office 15 November 1911 – 22 November 1913 | |
| Preceded by | Paul Louis Luce |
| Succeeded by | Joost van Vollenhoven |
| In office 22 January 1917 – 9 December 1919 | |
| Preceded by | Jean-François dit Eugène Charles |
| Succeeded by | Maurice Antoine François Monguillot |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 28 July 1872 |
| Died | 26 November 1962(1962-11-26) (aged 90) Paris, France |
| Political party | Radical |
Albert-Pierre Sarraut (French:[albɛʁsaʁo]; 28 July 1872 – 26 November 1962) was a FrenchRadical politician, twicePrime Minister during theThird Republic.
Sarraut was born on 28 July 1872 inBordeaux,Gironde, France.
On 14 March 1907 Sarraut, Senator ofAude and Under-Secretary of State for the Interior, was ridiculed by Clemenceau for trying to plead the case of his electorate during therevolt of the Languedoc winegrowers. Clemenceau told Sarraut, "I know the South, it will all end with a banquet".[1]After massive demonstrations in the winegrowing region in June 1907 Clemenceau asked Sarraut to bring the leaderErnest Ferroul to the negotiating table. Ferroul told him: "When we have three million men behind us, we do not negotiate".[2]From 17 June 1907 the Midi was occupied by 22 regiments of infantry and 12 regiments of cavalry.[3]Thegendarmerie was ordered to imprison the leaders of the demonstrations. Sarraut refused to endorse this policy and resigned from the government.[1]
He was Governor-General ofFrench Indochina, from 1912 to 1914 and from 1917 to 1919.Although Sarraut was celebrated for native education reform, his motivation was an example of paternalism. He believed that the Vietnamese could not be civilized until their thinking, customs and institutions mirrored those of the French. According to Hue Tam Ho Tai, if Sarraut's argument was carried to its logical conclusion, the Vietnamese, she writes, would "deserve independence from French rule only when they no longer desired to be Vietnamese, but Frenchmen in yellow skin."[4]Albert Sarraut supported actively the preservation and development of native arts, for instance supporting the French art scholarGeorge Groslier in preserving Cambodian arts and cultural traditions, and funding the design and construction of theNational Museum of Cambodia.On 18 January 1920 he replacedHenry Simon asMinister of the Colonies.
Acting as Minister of the Interior for the Édouard Daladier run government, Sarrault became increasingly concerned with what he considered a flood of Spanish refugees fleeing the Francoist regime during the Spanish Civil War. In April 1938 Sarrault released a statement calling for the "methodical, energetic and prompt action to rid our country of the too numerous undesirable elements".[5]
On 10 July 1940, Sarraut voted in favour of granting the Cabinet presided over by MarshalPhilippe Pétain authority to draw up a new constitution, thereby effectively ending theFrench Third Republic and establishingVichy France. Thereafter Sarraut retired from politics. He took control of the family newspaper,La Dépêche de Toulouse, after the editor, his brotherMaurice Sarraut, was killed by theMilice in 1943.
Sarraut died in Paris on 26 November 1962. TheLycée Albert Sarraut inHanoi was named after him.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Prime Ministers of France 1933 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Prime Ministers of France 1936 | Succeeded by |
