Vincent Auriol

Vincent Jules Auriol (27 August, 1884  – 1 January, 1966) was a French politician who served as the first President of the Fourth Republic from 1947 to 1954. He also served as interim President of the Provisional Government (head of state and government) from November to December 1946, making him one of only three people (with Charles de Gaulle and Alain Poher) who were heads of state of the French Republic on two separate occasions. Auriol was b... more

Vincent Jules Auriol (27 August, 1884  – 1 January, 1966) was a French politician who served as the first President of the Fourth Republic from 1947 to 1954. He also served as interim President of the Provisional Government (head of state and government) from November to December 1946, making him one of only three people (with Charles de Gaulle and Alain Poher) who were heads of state of the French Republic on two separate occasions. Auriol was born in Revel, Haute-Garonne, as the only child of Jacques Antoine Auriol (1855—1933), a baker nicknamed Paul, and Angélique Virginie Durand (1862—1945). He earned a law degree at the Collège de Revel in 1904 and began his career as a lawyer in Toulouse. A committed socialist, Auriol co-founded the newspaper Le Midi Socialiste in 1908; he was head of the Association of Journalists in Toulouse at this time. In 1914, Auriol entered the Chamber of Deputies as a Socialist Deputy for Muret, a position he retained until 1942. He also served as Mayor... less