Henry Lémery
| Henry Lémery | |
|---|---|
Henry Lémery in 1918
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| Minister of Justice | |
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In office 15 October 1934 – 8 November 1934 |
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| Preceded by | Henry Chéron |
| Succeeded by | Georges Pernot |
| Colonial Secretary | |
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In office 12 July 1940 – 6 September 1940 |
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| Preceded by | Albert Rivière |
| Succeeded by | Charles Platon |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
9 December 1874 Saint-Pierre, Martinique |
| Died | 26 April 1972 (aged 97) Paris, France |
| Nationality | French |
| Occupation | Lawyer |
Henry Lémery (9 December 1874 – 26 April 1972) was a politician from Martinique who served in the French National Assembly from 1914–1919 and the French Senate from 1920–1941. Lémery was briefly Minister of Justice in 1934. During World War II (1939–45) he was Colonial Secretary in the Vichy government for three months in 1940 before being dismissed, probably because the Germans disapproved of his mulatto ancestry.
Henry Lémery was born on 9 December 1874 in Saint-Pierre, Martinique. His family had been settled in the Antillean island of Martinique since the mid-17th century. He was a mulatto but was very light-skinned. He was educated at the secondary school (lycée) in Saint-Pierre, then in Paris at the Lycée Louis-le-Grand. After rejecting a career as a teacher, he enrolled at the Sorbonne and then at the Faculty of Law of the University of Paris. Lémery became a lawyer in 1898 and joined the bar of Paris in 1899. In May 1902 his whole family died during the eruption of Mount Pelée. He twice married French women.
In 1902 Lémery entered the office of Ernest Vallé, the Minister of Justice, as deputy to Henry de Jouvenel. He joined the French Section of the Workers' International in 1906 and ran unsuccessfully for Deputy of Martinique that year. He again failed to be elected on 1909 for the 12th arondissement of Paris. In January 1914 he was elected deputy for Martinique.
During World War I (1914–18) Lémery was exempt from military service as a colonial, but enlisted as a private soldier. He served in Champagne, Verdun and the Somme, was promoted to officer and was awarded the Cross of the Legion of Honour and the Croix de Guerre. He returned to the Chamber of Deputies in 1917, where he was vocal on subjects related to the war. He was offered but refused the portfolio of Minister of War for the Army by Paul Painlevé, whom he had criticized harshly. On 16 November 1917 he accepted the position of Minister of State for Maritime Transport and the Merchant Marine in the second cabinet of Georges Clemenceau. He resigned on 28 November 1918 on the basis that his job was done.
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