Paul Doumer

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French statesman Paul Doumer
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French statesman Paul Doumer

Paul Doumer (March 22, 1857May 7, 1932) was the President of France from June 13, 1931 until his assassination.

Born in Aurillac, in the Cantal département, in France.

He was Governor-General of French Indochina from 1897 to 1902. In Vietnamese, his last name was pronounced similar to đụ-mẹ, meaning approximately "to copulate with one's mother". (John DeFrancis, Chinese Language: Fact and Fantasy, ISBN 0-8248-1068-6)

After returning from French Indochina, Doumer served as President of the Chamber of Deputies (a post equivalent to the speaker of parliament) from 1902 to 1905. He was elected President of the French Republic on May 13, 1931, defeating the better known Aristide Briand.

On May 6, 1932, he was shot in Paris at the opening of a book fair by Paul Gorguloff, a mentally unstable Russian émigré. He died at 04:37 a.m. on May 7.

Preceded by:
Gaston Doumergue
President of France
1931–1932
Succeeded by:
Albert Lebrun
Preceded by:
Gaston Doumergue and Justí Guitart i Vilardebó
Co-Prince of Andorra
1931-1932
with Justí Guitart i Vilardebó
Succeeded by:
Albert Lebrun and Justí Guitart i Vilardebó

[edit] See also