High Commissioners of French-mandated Syria and Lebanon
Encyclopedia
High Commissioners of Syria and Lebanon were the highest ranking authority representing France in the french mandated countries of Syria
and Lebanon
. They were based in Beirut
, Lebanon. After 1941 they were renamed to General Delegates.
French Mandate of Syria
Officially the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon was a League of Nations mandate founded after the First World War and the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire...
and Lebanon
French Mandate of Lebanon
The state of Greater Lebanon, the predecessor of modern Lebanon, was created in 1920 as part of the French scheme of dividing the French Mandate of Syria into six states....
. They were based in Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
, Lebanon. After 1941 they were renamed to General Delegates.
List of French High Commissioners of Syria and Lebanon
- Henri Gouraud (9 October 1919 – 19 April 1923)
- Maxime WeygandMaxime WeygandMaxime Weygand was a French military commander in World War I and World War II.Weygand initially fought against the Germans during the invasion of France in 1940, but then surrendered to and collaborated with the Germans as part of the Vichy France regime.-Early years:Weygand was born in Brussels...
(19 April 1923 – 29 November 1924) - Maurice SarrailMaurice SarrailMaurice-Paul-Emmanuel Sarrail was a French general of the First World War. Sarrail endeared himself to the political elite of the Third Republic through his openly socialist views, all the more conspicuous in contrast to the Catholics, conservatives and monarchists who dominated the French Army...
(29 November 1924 – 23 December 1925) - Henry de Jouvenel (23 December 1925 – 23 June 1926)
- Auguste Henri Ponsot (August 1926 – July 1933)
- Damien de Martel (16 July 1933 – January 1939)
- Gabriel Puaux (January 1939 – November 1940)
- Jean ChiappeJean ChiappeJean Baptiste Pascal Eugène Chiappe was a high-ranking French civil servant.Chiappe was director of the Sûreté générale in the 1920s. He was subsequently given the post of Préfet de police in the 1930s, in which role he was very popular...
(did not take office) (24 November 1940 – 27 November 1940) - Henri DentzHenri DentzHenri Fernand Dentz was an officer in the French Army and, after France surrendered during World War II, he served with the Vichy French Army.-Syria-Lebanon campaign:...
(6 December 1940 – 14 June 1941)
List of French General Delegates of Syria and Lebanon
- Georges CatrouxGeorges CatrouxGeorges Catroux was a French Army general and diplomat who served in both World War I and World War II, and served as Grand Chancellor of the Légion d'honneur from 1954 to 1969.-Biography:...
(also Chief of Free French ForcesFree French ForcesThe Free French Forces were French partisans in World War II who decided to continue fighting against the forces of the Axis powers after the surrender of France and subsequent German occupation and, in the case of Vichy France, collaboration with the Germans.-Definition:In many sources, Free...
in LevantLevantThe Levant or ) is the geographic region and culture zone of the "eastern Mediterranean littoral between Anatolia and Egypt" . The Levant includes most of modern Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian territories, and sometimes parts of Turkey and Iraq, and corresponds roughly to the...
states) (24 June 1941 – 7 June 1943) - Jean Helleu (7 June 1943 – 23 November 1943)
- Yves Chataigneau (23 November 1943 – 23 January 1944)
- Étienne Beynet (23 January 1944 – 1 September 1946)