Christian Pineau was a noted French Resistance

French Resistance

The French Resistance is the name used to denote the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy régime during World War II...

 fighter.

He was born in Chaumont-en-Bassigny, Haute-Marne, France and died in Paris.

His father-in-law was the writer Jean Giraudoux

Jean Giraudoux

Hippolyte Jean Giraudoux was a French novelist, essayist, diplomat and playwright. He is considered among the most important French dramatists of the period between World War I and World War II. His work is noted for its stylistic elegance and poetic fantasy...

, who was married to Pineau's mother. Later, Christian Pineau will say that it's Giraudoux who gave him the love of writing.

A World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 French Resistance

French Resistance

The French Resistance is the name used to denote the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy régime during World War II...

 leader and a close ally of Charles de Gaulle

Charles de Gaulle

Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....

, he was arrested by the Gestapo

Gestapo

The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...

 in 1943 and survived Buchenwald concentration camp.

He represented the Sarthe Department as a Socialist in the National Assembly from 1946 to 1958. After the war, he served as a Minister in French governments between 1945–1958. He was minister of Supply in de Gaulle's government (1945) and Minister of Public works (1947–1950) in different governments. For a short time, he was Finance Minister in 1948. Designated as Prime minister by president Coty

René Coty

René Jules Gustave Coty was President of France from 1954 to 1959. He was the second and last president under the French Fourth Republic.-Early life and politics:...

 after Mendes France

Pierre Mendès-France

Pierre Mendès France was a French politician. He descended from a Portuguese Jewish family that moved to France in the sixteenth century.-Third Republic and World War II:...

's fall in February 1955, the National Assembly refused to invest his cabinet by 312 votes against 268. So he was for two days between 17 and 19 February 1955 the Prime Minister of France

Prime Minister of France

The Prime Minister of France in the Fifth Republic is the head of government and of the Council of Ministers of France. The head of state is the President of the French Republic...

.

As Foreign Minister (February 1956 – May 1958), he was responsible for handling the Suez canal

Suez Canal

The Suez Canal , also known by the nickname "The Highway to India", is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Opened in November 1869 after 10 years of construction work, it allows water transportation between Europe and Asia without navigation...

 crisis and he signed the Treaty of Rome

Treaty of Rome

The Treaty of Rome, officially the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, was an international agreement that led to the founding of the European Economic Community on 1 January 1958. It was signed on 25 March 1957 by Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany...

 on behalf of France. With Guy Mollet

Guy Mollet

Guy Mollet was a French Socialist politician. He led the French Section of the Workers' International party from 1946 to 1969 and was Prime Minister in 1956–1957.-Early life and World War II:...

, he visited Moscow.

He was always an advocate of European integration.

Protocols of Sèvres

In October 1956 he signed the Protocols of Sèvres with Britain and Israel on behalf of France.
He wrote several books:

• La simple vérité, regard sur la période 1940–1945, Editions Julliard
• Khrouchtchev, Perrin, 1964
• Suez, Robert Laffont, 1976
• Mon cher député, Julliard, 1959
• Le grand pari, l'aventure du Traité de Rome (with Christiane Rimbaud)

and also children's books: Plume et le saumon, L'ourse aux pattons verts, Histoire de la forêt de Bercé, La planète aux enfants perdus.

He is buried in Le Père Lachaise Cemetery, Paris, France.