Meyer, Leon

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MEYER, LEON

MEYER, LEON (1868–1957), French politician. Born in Le Havre, Meyer was a cousin of the Jewish anti-Dreyfusard journalist, Arthur Meyer. Having established a position for himself as a coffee merchant, he was elected to the city council in 1912 and as mayor of Le Havre in 1919. In 1921 Meyer became a radical-socialist member of the Chamber of Deputies and served as undersecretary of state in two administrations, first in 1925 and again in 1929. In 1932 he became minister of mercantile marine, in which post he made a substantial contribution to France's shipbuilding industry and to the development of the port of Le Havre. An outspoken critic of the Popular Front coalition of 1936, in which the radical socialists participated, Meyer fell out of favor with his own party. He devoted himself entirely to local politics until the fall of France in 1940, after which he took no further part in public affairs.

[Shulamith Catane]

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