Joseph Paul-Boncour

Joseph Paul-Boncour
104th Prime Minister of France
In office 18 December 1932 – 31 January 1933
Preceded by	Édouard Herriot
Succeeded by	Édouard Daladier
Personal details
Born	4 August 1873
Died
Political party	PRS

Augustin Alfred Joseph Paul-Boncour (French pronunciation: ​[ʒɔzɛf pɔl bɔ̃kuʁ]; 4 August 1873 – 28 March 1972) was a French politician of the Third Republic.

Career

Born in Saint-Aignan, Loir-et-Cher, Paul-Boncour received a law degree from the University of Paris and became active in the labor movement, organizing the legal council of the Bourses du Travail (workers' associations). He was private secretary to Premier Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau from 1898 to 1902. Elected to the Chamber of Deputies as a Radical in 1909, he held his seat until 1914, briefly serving as Minister of Labour from March to June 1911. After serving in the military during World War I, he returned to the French National Assembly.

Turning to Socialism, he joined the SFIO in 1916, but resigned in 1931 to join the Republican-Socialist Party (PRS), which in 1935 merged with the French Socialist Party (PSF) and the Socialist Party of France-Jean Jaurès Union PSdF) to form the Socialist Republican Union (USR). Also in 1931, Paul-Boncour was elected to the Senate, and served in that capacity until the establishment of the Vichy régime in 1940 (during World War II).

During his time as a Senator, Paul-Boncour served in a variety of cabinet and diplomatic posts. He was the Permanent Delegate to the League of Nations from 1932 to 1936, Minister of War in 1932, Premier from December 1932 to January 1933, and Foreign Minister on three separate occasions (December 1932 to January 1934, January to June 1936, and March 1938).

Paul-Boncour was opposed to the formation of the Vichy government, and recommended continuing the fight against Nazi Germany after the fall of France, from Algiers. As a member of the Consultative Assembly from 1944, he led the French delegation to the United Nations conference in San Francisco and signed the United Nations Charter on behalf of France. He once again served as a senator from 1946 to 1948.

He died in Paris in March 1972.

Paul-Boncour's Ministry, 18 December 1932 – 31 January 1933

• Joseph Paul-Boncour – President of the Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs
• Édouard Daladier – Minister of War
• Camille Chautemps – Minister of the Interior
• Henri Chéron – Minister of Finance
• Albert Dalimier – Minister of Labour and Social Security Provisions
• Abel Gardey – Minister of Justice
• Georges Leygues – Minister of Marine
• Léon Meyer – Minister of Merchant Marine
• Paul Painlevé – Minister of Air
• Anatole de Monzie – Minister of National Education
• Edmond Miellet – Minister of Pensions
• Henri Queuille – Minister of Agriculture
• Albert Sarraut – Minister of Colonies
• Georges Bonnet – Minister of Public Works
• Charles Daniélou – Minister of Public Health
• Laurent Eynac – Minister of Posts, Telegraphs, and Telephones
• Julien Durand – Minister of Commerce and Industry

Political offices
Preceded by Louis Lafferre	Minister of Labour and Social Security 1911	Succeeded by René Renoult
Preceded by François Piétri	Minister of War 1932	Succeeded by Édouard Daladier
Preceded by Édouard Herriot	President of the Council 1932–1933	Succeeded by Édouard Daladier
Preceded by Édouard Herriot	Minister of Foreign Affairs 1932–1934	Succeeded by Édouard Daladier
Preceded by Jean Fabry	Minister of National Defense and War 1934	Succeeded by Philippe Pétain
Preceded by Yvon Delbos	Minister of Foreign Affairs 1938	Succeeded by Georges Bonnet
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by –	Minister of State, Permanent Delegate to the League of Nations 1936	Succeeded by –