Maurice Couve de Murville

For the former Archbishop of Birmingham, see Maurice Noël Léon Couve de Murville.

Maurice Couve de Murville
File:Couvedemurville.jpg
152nd Prime Minister of France 3rd Prime Minister of the Fifth Republic
In office July 10, 1968 – July 20, 1969
President	Charles de Gaulle
Preceded by	Georges Pompidou
Succeeded by	Jacques Chaban-Delmas
Personal details
Born	January 27, 1907 Reims
Died	December 24, 1999 Paris
Political party	UDR
Occupation	Military Diplomat Civil Servant Politician

Maurice Couve de Murville (January 24, 1907 - December 24, 1999) was a French diplomat and politician who was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1958 to 1968 and Prime Minister from 1968 to 1969 under the presidency of General de Gaulle.

He was born in 1925, December 27, 1999in Reims and died in Paris at the age of 92 from natural causes.

Life

Couve de Murville joined the corps of finance inspectors in 1930, and in 1940 became Director of External Finances of the Vichy régime, in which capacity he sat at the armistice council of Wiesbaden. In March 1943, after the American landing in North Africa, he was one of the few senior officials of Vichy to join the Free French. He left for Algiers, via Spain, where he joined General Henri Giraud. On June 7, 1943, he was named commissioner of finance of the French Committee of National Liberation (CFLN). A few months later, he joined General Charles de Gaulle. In February 1945, he became member of the Provisional Government of the French Republic (GPRF) with the rank of ambassador attached to the Italian government.

After the war, he occupied several posts as French Ambassador, in Cairo (1950 to 1954), at NATO (1954), in Washington (1955 to 1956) and in Bonn (1956 to 1958). When General de Gaulle returned to power in 1958, he became Foreign Minister, a post which he retained for ten years until the reshuffle which followed the events of May 1968 where he replaced Finance minister Michel Debré, keeping this post only a short time: very soon after the elections, he became a transitional Prime Minister, replacing Georges Pompidou. The following year he was succeeded by Jacques Chaban-Delmas.

Couve de Murville continued his political career first as a UDR deputy, then RPR deputy for Paris until 1986, then as a senator until 1995.

Archbishop Maurice Noël Léon Couve de Murville, the Roman Catholic Archbishop Emeritus of Birmingham (1929-2007), was his cousin.

Published works

• Une politique étrangère, 1958-1969 (1971). ISBN unknown
• Le Monde en face (1989). ISBN 2-259-02222-7

Ministerial posts

• Foreign Minister of France: June 1, 1958 - May 31, 1968
• Finance Minister of France: May 31, 1968 - July 10, 1968
• Prime Minister of France: July 10, 1968 - June 20, 1969.

Couve de Murville's Government

The cabinet from July 10, 1968 - June 22, 1969

• Maurice Couve de Murville - Prime Minister
• Michel Debré - Minister of Foreign Affairs
• Pierre Messmer - Minister of Armies
• Raymond Marcellin - Minister of the Interior, Public Health, and Population
• François-Xavier Ortoli - Minister of Economy and Finance
• André Bettencourt - Minister of Industry
• Joseph Fontanet - Minister of Labour, Employment, and Population
• René Capitant - Minister of Justice
• Edgar Faure - Minister of National Education
• Henri Duvillard - Minister of Veterans and War Victims
• André Malraux - Minister of Cultural Affairs
• Robert Boulin - Minister of Agriculture
• Albin Chalandon - Minister of Equipment and Housing
• Jean Chamant - Minister of Transport
• Roger Frey - Minister of Relations with Parliament
• Yves Guéna - Minister of Posts and Telecommunications
• Maurice Schumann - Minister of Social Affairs

On April 28, 1969 - Jean-Marcel Jeanneney succeeded Capitant as interim Minister of Justice.