Jules Moch

Personal

Vocation

French politician. As an engineer (polytechnicien) who took part in the X-Crise Group, he was a socialist member of Parliament for Drôme and then Hérault from 1928 to 1936 and from 1937 to 1940. He was Under-secretary of State in prime minister Léon Blum's office (1937) and became Minister of Public Works in 1938. He later became critical of The Vichy French Government and was jailed, but later he was released. During World War II Moch joined and helped organize the Paris underground. He also helped other French Resistance activities in France. When The Free French Naval Forces was organized, he rallied to de Gaulle in 1942 and participated in The Invasion of Normandy toward The Free French Liberation of France with The Allied Forces. In Post World War II, Moch was a member of the Consultative Assembly (1944) and of the two Constituent National Assemblies (1945–46) and then of the National Assembly (1946–1958 and 1962–1967). He was eight times Minister during the Fourth Republic: Public works and Transportation (1945–1947), Interior (1947–1950), Defence (1950–1951). Jules Moch was deputy prime minister from 1949 to 1950. He was France's delegate at the UN disarmament commission from 1951 to 1960. As rapporteur of the Foreign affairs Committee, he opposed the European Community of Defence that was defeated by the National Assembly in 1954. He was married to Germaine Picard, one of the first early woman lawyers of France and a legal advocate with other renowned supporters in the defence of Alfred Dreyfus. She was also an active advocate of the women's rights movement in France and Europe. He died on 1 August 1985 in Cabris, Alpes-Maritimes, France. Link to Wikipedia biography