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Pierre Pflimlin | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 1984 | |
| Prime Minister of France | |
| In office 14 May 1958 – 1 June 1958 | |
| President | René Coty |
| Preceded by | Félix Gaillard |
| Succeeded by | Charles de Gaulle |
| 15th President of the European Parliament | |
| In office 24 July 1984 – 10 January 1987 | |
| Preceded by | Piet Dankert |
| Succeeded by | Charles Henry Plumb |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Pierre Eugène Jean Pflimlin 5 February 1907 Roubaix,Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France |
| Died | 27 June 2000(2000-06-27) (aged 93) Strasbourg,Alsace, France |
| Political party | Popular Republican Movement (1944–1966) Democratic Centre (1966–1976) Centre of Social Democrats (1976–1995) |
| Other political affiliations | Union for French Democracy (1978–1995) |
Pierre Eugène Jean Pflimlin (French:[pjɛʁflimlɛ̃]; 5 February 1907 – 27 June 2000) was a FrenchChristian Democrat politician who served as thePrime Minister of theFourth Republic for a few weeks in 1958, before being replaced byCharles de Gaulle during thecrisis of that year.
Pflimlin was born inRoubaix in theNord department. A lawyer and a member of the Christian democraticPopular Republican Movement (MRP), he was elected deputy of départementBas Rhin in 1945. With his personal roots inAlsace, Pflimlin numbered among his MRP party colleagues theLuxembourg-bornRobert Schuman; for both, relations with Germany played an important role in their political thinking.
He held some governmental offices during the Fourth Republic, notably as Minister of Agriculture (1947–1949 and 1950–1951) and as Minister of Economy and Finance (1955–1956, 1957–1958).
On 13 May 1958, theFrench National Assembly approved his nomination as Prime Minister. But the same day, riots took place inAlgiers. The French generals inAlgeria feared he would arrange for a negotiated solution with the Algerian nationalists giving them control of Algeria. They refused to recognize his cabinet. At this point, the leading politicians deserted him, includingGuy Mollet,Vincent Auriol, andAntoine Pinay. The crisis culminated in acoup d'état in Algiers that was resolved with his resignation, thus facilitatingCharles de Gaulle accession to the post of Prime Minister on 1 June.[1]
Pflimlin was Minister of State until 1959. As Minister of Cooperation in 1962, he resigned with the other MRP ministers in order to protest against the euro-scepticism of de Gaulle.
Pflimlin served as the first Catholic mayor ofStrasbourg from 1959 to 1983.
He also was the President of theParliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe from 1963 to 1966 and President of theEuropean Parliament from 1984 to 1987.
ThePierre Pflimlin bridge over theRhine south of Strasbourg, connecting France to Germany, is named after him and was opened in 2002.
Changes:
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Minister of Agriculture 1947–1949 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Agriculture 1950–1951 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Commerce and External Commercial Relations 1951–1952 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by — | Minister for theCouncil of Europe 1952 | Succeeded by — |
| Preceded by | Minister of Overseas France 1952–1953 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Finance, Economic Affairs and Planning 1955–1956 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs 1957–1958 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Prime Minister of France 1958 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by — | Minister of State 1958–1959 | Succeeded by — |
| Preceded by | Minister of Cooperation 1962 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | President of theParliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe 1963–1966 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | President of the European Parliament 1984–1987 | Succeeded by |
| Common Assembly: 1952–1958 | |
|---|---|
| Parliamentary Assembly: 1958–1962 | |
| European Parliament (appointed): 1962–1979 | |
| European Parliament (elected): 1979–present | |
