Maurice Couve de Murville

Jacques-Maurice Couve de Murville (French: [mɔʁis kuv də myʁvil, moʁ-]; 24 January 1907 – 24 December 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. As foreign minister He played the leading role in the critical Franco-German treaty of cooperation in 1963, He laid the foundation for the Paris-Bonn axis that was central in building a united Europe.

Maurice Couve de Murville
Senator for Paris
In office 28 September 1986 – 1 October 1995
Member of the National Assembly for Paris 6th constituency
In office 11 March 1973 – 1 April 1986
Preceded by	Raymond Bousquet
Succeeded by	Constituency abolished
In office 23 June 1968 – 10 August 1968
Preceded by	Raymond Bousquet
Succeeded by	Raymond Bousquet
Prime Minister of France
In office 10 July 1968 – 20 June 1969
President	Charles de Gaulle Alain Poher (acting)
Preceded by	Georges Pompidou
Succeeded by	Jacques Chaban-Delmas
Minister of Economy and Finances
In office 31 May 1968 – 10 July 1968
President	Charles de Gaulle
Prime Minister	George Pompidou
Preceded by	Michel Debré
Succeeded by	François-Xavier Ortoli
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office 1 June 1958 – 30 May 1968
President	René Coty Charles de Gaulle
Prime Minister	Charles de Gaulle Michel Debre Georges Pompidou
Preceded by	Rene Pleven
Succeeded by	Michel Debre
Personal details
Born	Maurice Couve 24 January 1907 Reims, France
Died	24 December 1999 (aged 92) Paris, France
Political party	UDR
Spouse(s)	Jacqueline Schweisguth
Children	Juliette Dorothée Béatrice
Occupation	Military Diplomat Civil Servant Politician

Foreign Minister Maurice Couve de Murville receiving David Ben-Gurion at Quai d'Orsay, June 1960

Life

He was born Maurice Couve (his father acquired the name de Murville in 1925[1]) in Reims.

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 7 June 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 a 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 he retained for ten years until the reshuffle that 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. He died in Paris at the age of 92 from natural causes.

Maurice Couve de Murville, the Roman Catholic Archbishop 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

Political career

Governmental functions

Prime minister : 1968–1969

Minister of Foreign Affairs : 1958–1968

Minister of Economy and Finance : May–July 1968

Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Assembly 1973–1981.

Electoral mandates

Member of the National Assembly of France for Paris : June 1968 (He leaves his seat because he is minister) / 1973–1986

Senator of Paris : 1986–1995

Couve de Murville's Government

The cabinet from 10 July 1968 – 22 June 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 28 April 1969 – Jean-Marcel Jeanneney succeeded Capitant as interim Minister of Justice.

References

1. Obituary: Maurice Couve de Murville, The Independent, 27 December 1999

External links

• A film clip "Longines Chronoscope with Maurice Couve de Murville" is available at the Internet Archive