Léon Meyer
| Léon Meyer | |
|---|---|
Meyer in 1924
|
|
| Minister of Merchant Marine | |
|
In office 4 June 1932 – 31 January 1933 |
|
| Preceded by | Charles Guernier |
| Succeeded by | Eugène Frot |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
11 September 1868 Le Havre, Seine-Inférieure, France |
| Died | 22 January 1948 (aged 79) Paris, France |
| Nationality | French |
| Occupation | Broker |
Léon Meyer (11 September 1868 – 22 January 1948) was a French freight broker and Radical politician from the port city of Le Havre. He was mayor of Le Havre from 1919 to 1941, and a national deputy from 1923 to 1941. He was Minister of Merchant Marine in 1932–33. As a Jew he was removed from office during World War II (1939–45), and in 1944 was deported and spent 17 months in concentration camps.
Léon Meyer was born on 11 September 1868 in Le Havre, Seine-Inférieure. After completing school he became a freight broker, and was elected president of the Chambre des courtiers assermentés. In 1904 he was elected to the municipal council of Le Havre and the general council of the Seine-Inférieure department. He was praised for his efforts in office during World War I (1914–18). In the winter of 1918–19 Meyer led the Radical group in Le Havre that denounced the inadequacy of municipal efforts to supply the markets and small businesses.
Meyer was elected mayor of Le Havre in November 1919 and started more vigorous efforts to supply the city. After the war the unions demanded that foreign workers leave the port to make way for French workers. Meyer helped organize the return to their country of Moroccans, asserting that unlike Algerians they could not be assimilated. Later, as deputy mayor in Le Havre Meyer supported societies of black sailors in the port, but said they "must observe absolute political neutrality and keep themselves apart from workers' struggles." This had the effect of making them reluctant to join the left-wing Union des travailleurs nègres (UTN).
Meyer ran successfully for election to the chamber of deputies in a by-election on 10 June 1923 as the sole candidate of the Union of the Left. He was reelected for the same constituency in the general elections of May 1924, and for the first district of Le Havre in the elections of 2928, 1932 and 1936. Throughout his parliamentary career he sat with the Radical Republican and Radical Socialist group. Meyer was under secretary of state for Merchant Marine from 14 June 1924 to 17 April 1925 in the cabinet of Édouard Herriot. He was under secretary of state for the National Economy from 8 December 1930 to 27 January 1931 in the cabinet of Théodore Steeg. He was Minister of Merchant Marine from 4 June 1932 to 31 January 1933 in the successive cabinets of Herriot and Paul Boncour.
...
Wikipedia