Jean Lecanuet

Jean Lecanuet
Lecanuet in 1959
Minister of Justice
In office 28 May 1974 – 25 August 1976
President	Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
Prime Minister	Jacques Chirac
Preceded by	Jean Taittinger
Succeeded by	Olivier Guichard
MayorofRouen
In office 4 April 1968 – 22 February 1993
Preceded by	Bernard Tissot
Succeeded by	François Gautier
Personal details
Born	Jean Adrien François Lecanuet (1920-03-04)4 March 1920 Rouen,France
Died	22 February 1993(1993-02-22)(aged 72) Neuilly-sur-Seine,France
Political party	Centre of Social Democrats(1976-1993) Union for French Democracy(1978-1993)
Other political affiliations	Popular Republican Movement (1944–1966) Democratic Centre (1966–1976)
Education	Lycée Corneille
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Jean Adrien François Lecanuet(4 March 1920 – 22 February 1993) was a Frenchcentristpolitician.

Biography

Lecanuet was born to a family of modest means inRouenand gravitated towardsphilosophystudies. He received his diploma at the age of 22, becoming the youngestagrégé( "A+" professor) in France. He participated in the Second World WarFrench Resistancemovement. In August 1944, he was arrested along with a commando that had just blown up the Lille-Brussels railroad, but he managed to escape with the help of a Pole who had been drafted into the German army. He then married Denise Paillard with whom he had three children.

After theLiberation,he became a general inspector at the Ministry of Defence.

Under theFourth Republic,Lecanuet held ministerial posts numerous times (11 posts in 10 years) and was a member of the Christian-DemocraticPopular Republican Movement(MRP). From 1951 to 1955, he was MRP deputy from theSeine-Inférieureregion. He became senator fromSeine-Maritimein 1959 and was president of the MRP from 1963 to 1965.

In 1965, he ran in thepresidential electionas a center-right candidate. He was supported byPaul Reynaud.He advocated modernity and European integration and declared to represent a third way between Gaullism on the one hand and the Socialist and Communist Left on the other hand. His "modern-style" campaign and dashing smile had some journalists nickname him "the FrenchKennedy".Lecanuet obtained 3,777,120 votes (15.6%) in the election's first round, forcingCharles de Gaulleto compete in a second round againstFrançois Mitterrand.He replaced the ageing MRP by theDemocratic Centre,integrating the liberal-conservativeNational Centre of Independents and Peasants.

In 1972, Lecanuet founded theReforming MovementwithJean-Jacques Servan-Schreiber.During the French legislative elections of 1973, Lecanuet negotiated the withdrawal of candidates withPierre Messmerto ensure the success of the majority. He was elected deputy of Seine-Maritime and actively participated in the1974 presidential election campaignin support ofValéry Giscard d'Estaing.

Lecanuet was Minister of Justice inJacques Chirac's first cabinet (1974–1976). From 1976 to 1977, he was Minister of State for Territorial Development in theRaymond Barre's first cabinet. In 1978, he was elected president of theUDF,the party coalition created to support President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing. He held that position until 1988. From 1979 to 1988, he was a Deputy in theEuropean Parliamentand, as Senator forSeine-Maritime,theFrench Senate's chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Armed Forces Commission, a post that he had already held between 1971 and 1973.

In 1986 at the beginning of the first period of "cohabitation" in modern French politics (a President and Prime Minister from opposing parties sharing power) Chirac nominated Lecanuet as Foreign Minister, but PresidentFrançois Mitterrandvetoed the appointment, along with some of Chirac's other nominees.

In 1968, he was electedMayorofRouen,a position he held for 23 years until his death.

He dies of cancer on 22 February 1993 at the age of 72 inNeuilly-sur-Seine.

Sources

• Chaline (Nadine-Josette),Jean Lecanuet,Beauchesne,Paris, 2000.
• Priol (Philippe),Jean Lecanuet, le vol de l’albatros,Maître Jacques, Caen, 2001.