Georges Marchais
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Georges René Louis Marchais (June 7, 1920, La Hoguette in Calvados - November 16, 1997, Paris) was the head of the French Communist Party (PCF), and a candidate in the French presidential elections of 1981 - in which he managed to garner only 15.34% of the vote, which was considered at the time a major setback for the party.
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[edit] Early life
Born into a Roman Catholic family, he became mechanic, just before the beginning of WW2, with the Société Nationale d'Étude et de Construction de Moteurs d'Aviation. After the collapse of France, he appears to have freely enrolled as a volunteer to Nazi Germany to work in the Messerschmitt aircraft manufacturing plant, as the date of his departure was before the establishment of the STO system, by which french workers were compelled to work in german plants.
In 1946, he became secretary of the metalworkers' trade union in Issy-les-Moulineaux, and advanced in the Confédération générale du travail in his commune from 1951, becoming secretary of the Seine Metallurgical Workers' Union Federation from 1953 to 1956.
[edit] Political career
He entered the Party in 1947. In 1956, he was appointed a member of the extended Central Committee, and in 1959 a full member of it and of the Politburo. From 1961, he was the secretary in charge of the organization, then junior General Secretary in 1970. He co-signed a common platform with the Socialist Party and the Left Radical Party in June 1972.
In reaction to May 1968, Marchais showed his contempt for Daniel Cohn-Bendit by calling him a German anarchist.
In December of 1972, he became General Secretary, following Waldeck Rochet's retirement. From 1973 to 1997, he was National deputy for the first constituency of Val-de-Marne (Arcueil-Cachan-Villejuif). Heading the PCF electoral list in the European elections of 1979, he had a safe seat until 1989. He obtained 15% of the votes at the 1981 presidential election
En 1994, with the 28th Congress of the PCF, he ceded his place as General Secretary to Robert Hue, although he maintained his titular role as a member of the Politburo - significantly renamed National Office. The same year, he became President of the PCF Comité pour la défense des libertés et droits de l'homme en France et dans le monde ("Committee for the Defense of Human Liberties and Rights in France and Throughout the World").
[edit] Attitudes
Georges Marchais was a notable personality because of his mannerisms (Ct'un scandaaaale — "This is a scandal!") and brusque demeanor, often lambasted by comic Thierry Le Luron. For instance, he is remembered for his outburst
- Taisez-vous Elkabbach ("Stop talking, Elkabbach!")
to journalist Jean-Pierre Elkabbach.
He was pro-Soviet Union, but also supported Eurocommunism, like Enrico Berlinguer and Santiago Carrillo. He backed the ideals of the anti-perestroika failed coup in the USSR in 1991.
[edit] Works
- Les Communistes et les Paysans - "The Communists and Peasantry" (1972)
- Le défi démocratique - "The Challenge of Democracy" (1973)
- La politique du PCF - "PCF Policies" (1974)
- Communistes et/ou chrétiens - "Communists and/or Christians" (1977)
- Parlons franchement - "Let's Be Frank" (1977)
- Réponses - "Answers" (1977)
- L'espoir au présent - "Hope in the Present" (1980)
- Démocratie - "Democracy" (1990)
| Preceded by: Waldeck Rochet |
Secretary General of the French Communist Party 1972 - 1994 |
Succeeded by: Robert Hue |
