Georges Pompidou

Georges Jean Raymond Pompidou 5 July 1911 2 April 1974 was a French politician who served as President of France from 1969 until his death in 1974 He previously was Prime Minister of France of President Charles de Gaulle from 1962 to 1968the longest tenure in the positions history He had long been a top aide to President Charles de Gaulle In the context of the strong growth of the last years of the Trente Glorieuses Pompidou continued De Gaulles policy of modernisation symbolised by the presidential use of the Concorde the creation of large industrial groups and the launch of the highspeed train project TGV The State invested heavily in the automobile agrifood steel telecommunications nuclear and aerospace sectors It also created the minimum wage SMIC and the Ministry of the Environment His foreign policy pragmatic although in keeping with the Gaullist principle of French independence was marked by a warming of relations with Nixons United States as well as by close relations with Brezhnevs USSR the launch of the Snake in the tunnel and the relaunching of European construction by the entry of the United Kingdom into the EEC an idea which his predecessor at the Élysée Palace had opposed Pompidou died in office in 1974 of Waldenströms disease a rare form of blood cancer His presidency is generally held in high esteem by French political commentators A man of letters he belongs to a long line of French statesmen with an excellent writing style His Anthology of French Poetry is still a reference today and is part of the school curriculum While he was passionate about contemporary art his name remains known worldwide for the Centre national dart et de culture GeorgesPompidou which he initiated which was inaugurated in 1977 and which subsequently spread the name with its branches in Metz France Malaga Spain Brussels Belgium and Shanghai China A Georges Pompidou Museum is also dedicated to him in his home town The family of Georges Pompidou was of very modest origins he was the grandson of farmers of modest means in Cantal on both his fathers and his mothers side His parents were teachers Thus his case is often cited as a typical example of social mobility in the Third Republic thanks to public schooling Georges Jean Raymond Pompidou was born on 5 July 1911 in the commune of Montboudif in the department of Cantal in central France After his hypokhâgne at Lycée PierredeFermat and his khâgne at Lycée LouisleGrand where he befriended future Senegalese poet and statesman Léopold Sédar Senghor he attended the École Normale Supérieure from which he graduated with a degree of agrégation in literature He first taught literature at the lycée Henri IV in Paris until hired in 1953 by Guy de Rothschild to work at Rothschild In 1956 he was appointed the banks general manager a position he held until 1962 Later he was hired by Charles de Gaulle to manage the Anne de Gaulle Foundation for Down syndrome de Gaulles youngest daughter Anne had Down syndrome Source Article Georges Pompidou from Wikipedia in English licensed under CCBYSA 30