Louis Noguères
Encyclopedia
Louis Noguères was a French
politician and member of the French Resistance
.
Son of a magistrate
, Louis Noguères was born at Laval, Mayenne
. His family moved frequently and Louis attended schools in Laval, Angers
, Chambéry
, and Le Havre
. He studied law and history at the Sorbonne
in Paris
. In Paris he met Jean Jaurès
and collaborated with him on the sixth volume of L'Histoire de la Révolution et de l'Empire. Although supportive of socialism, Noguères did not join the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO) at this time. Recalled to active service during the First World War, he served in the infantry and the air force, and received the Légion d'honneur
.
He worked as a lawyer for many years before first standing for election as mayor of Thuir
in the Pyrénées-Orientales
in 1931. In 1935, now a member of the SFIO, he was reelected as mayor and was elected to the Chamber of Deputies
in at the end of 1937.
On 10 July 1940, Louis Noguères was one of the eighty
who voted against granting special powers to Marshal Philippe Pétain
. Placed under police surveillance, he was ejected from the Chamber of Deputies in February 1941 when a letter which expressed his hostility to the Vichy Regime, Nazi Germany
, and Fascism
, was intercepted. He publicly expressed opposition to Vichy at the funeral of Senator Georges Pézières in March 1941, and was placed under house arrest
, first Argentat
in Corrèze
, then at Florac
in Lozère
.
His activities came to the attention of the Gestapo
, who decided to arrest him in the autumn of 1943. Forewarned by the resistance, he escaped and joined the Maquis
in Aveyron
where he contributed to resistance journals such as Le Populaire, Libération
and Vaincre.
After the liberation of France, Noguères was a member of the French National Assembly
, and served as president of the High Court, presiding over trials of Vichy ministers and functionaries. He stepped down from the court in 1951. He also served as president of the General council from 1945 until his death.
He died at Bages
. He was the father of Henri Noguères.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
politician and member of the 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...
.
Son of a magistrate
Magistrate
A magistrate is an officer of the state; in modern usage the term usually refers to a judge or prosecutor. This was not always the case; in ancient Rome, a magistratus was one of the highest government officers and possessed both judicial and executive powers. Today, in common law systems, a...
, Louis Noguères was born at Laval, Mayenne
Laval, Mayenne
Laval is a commune in the Mayenne department in north-western France.It lies on the threshold of Brittany and on the border between Normandy and Anjou. Its citizens are called Lavallois.-Geography:...
. His family moved frequently and Louis attended schools in Laval, Angers
Angers
Angers is the main city in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France about south-west of Paris. Angers is located in the French region known by its pre-revolutionary, provincial name, Anjou, and its inhabitants are called Angevins....
, Chambéry
Chambéry
Chambéry is a city in the department of Savoie, located in the Rhône-Alpes region in southeastern France.It is the capital of the department and has been the historical capital of the Savoy region since the 13th century, when Amadeus V of Savoy made the city his seat of power.-Geography:Chambéry...
, and Le Havre
Le Havre
Le Havre is a city in the Seine-Maritime department of the Haute-Normandie region in France. It is situated in north-western France, on the right bank of the mouth of the river Seine on the English Channel. Le Havre is the most populous commune in the Haute-Normandie region, although the total...
. He studied law and history at the Sorbonne
Sorbonne
The Sorbonne is an edifice of the Latin Quarter, in Paris, France, which has been the historical house of the former University of Paris...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. In Paris he met Jean Jaurès
Jean Jaurès
Jean Léon Jaurès was a French Socialist leader. Initially an Opportunist Republican, he evolved into one of the first social democrats, becoming the leader, in 1902, of the French Socialist Party, which opposed Jules Guesde's revolutionary Socialist Party of France. Both parties merged in 1905 in...
and collaborated with him on the sixth volume of L'Histoire de la Révolution et de l'Empire. Although supportive of socialism, Noguères did not join the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO) at this time. Recalled to active service during the First World War, he served in the infantry and the air force, and received the Légion d'honneur
Légion d'honneur
The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
.
He worked as a lawyer for many years before first standing for election as mayor of Thuir
Thuir
Thuir is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France.It lies not far from Perpignan. It is located in a plain between the natural zones of Els Aspres and El Riberal.-References:* -External links:*...
in the Pyrénées-Orientales
Pyrénées-Orientales
Pyrénées-Orientales is a department of southern France adjacent to the northern Spanish frontier and the Mediterranean Sea. It also surrounds the tiny Spanish enclave of Llívia, and thus has two distinct borders with Spain.- History :...
in 1931. In 1935, now a member of the SFIO, he was reelected as mayor and was elected to the Chamber of Deputies
Chamber of Deputies of France
Chamber of Deputies was the name given to several parliamentary bodies in France in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries:* 1814–1848 during the Bourbon Restoration and the July Monarchy, the Chamber of Deputies was the Lower chamber of the French Parliament, elected by census suffrage.*...
in at the end of 1937.
On 10 July 1940, Louis Noguères was one of the eighty
The Vichy 80
The Vichy 80 were a group of elected French parliamentarians who, on 10 July 1940, voted against the constitutional change that dissolved the Third Republic and established an authoritarian regime known as Vichy France....
who voted against granting special powers to Marshal Philippe Pétain
Philippe Pétain
Henri Philippe Benoni Omer Joseph Pétain , generally known as Philippe Pétain or Marshal Pétain , was a French general who reached the distinction of Marshal of France, and was later Chief of State of Vichy France , from 1940 to 1944...
. Placed under police surveillance, he was ejected from the Chamber of Deputies in February 1941 when a letter which expressed his hostility to the Vichy Regime, Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
, and Fascism
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
, was intercepted. He publicly expressed opposition to Vichy at the funeral of Senator Georges Pézières in March 1941, and was placed under house arrest
House arrest
In justice and law, house arrest is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to his or her residence. Travel is usually restricted, if allowed at all...
, first Argentat
Argentat
Argentat is a commune in the Corrèze department in central France.-Geography:Argentat is situated on the Dordogne River, to the south west of Bort-les-Orgues. It is the point where the Maronne, a tributary of the Dordogne, converges with the famous river...
in Corrèze
Corrèze
Corrèze is a department in south central France, named after the Corrèze River.The inhabitants of the department are called Corréziens or Corréziennes according to gender.-History:...
, then at Florac
Florac
Florac is a commune of the Lozère department in southern France.-Twin towns:Florac is twinned with:* L'Anse-Saint-Jean, Quebec, Canada since 1984* Arbucies, Catalonia, Spain since 1987-References:* -External links:...
in Lozère
Lozère
Lozère , is a department in southeast France near the Massif Central, named after Mont Lozère.- History :Lozère is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
.
His activities came to the attention of 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...
, who decided to arrest him in the autumn of 1943. Forewarned by the resistance, he escaped and joined the Maquis
Maquis (World War II)
The Maquis were the predominantly rural guerrilla bands of the French Resistance. Initially they were composed of men who had escaped into the mountains to avoid conscription into Vichy France's Service du travail obligatoire to provide forced labour for Germany...
in Aveyron
Aveyron
Aveyron is a département in southern France named after the Aveyron River.- History :Aveyron is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790....
where he contributed to resistance journals such as Le Populaire, Libération
Libération
Libération is a French daily newspaper founded in Paris by Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge July in 1973 in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968. Originally a leftist newspaper, it has undergone a number of shifts during the 1980s and 1990s...
and Vaincre.
After the liberation of France, Noguères was a member of the French National Assembly
French National Assembly
The French National Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of France under the Fifth Republic. The upper house is the Senate ....
, and served as president of the High Court, presiding over trials of Vichy ministers and functionaries. He stepped down from the court in 1951. He also served as president of the General council from 1945 until his death.
He died at Bages
Bages, Pyrénées-Orientales
Bages is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France.-References:*...
. He was the father of Henri Noguères.
Sources
- Jean MaitronJean MaitronJean Maitron was a French historian specialist of the labour movement. A pioneer of such historical studies in France, he introduced it to University and gave it its archives base, by creating in 1949 the Centre d'histoire du syndicalisme in the Sorbonne, which received important archives from...
(dir.), Dictionnaire biographique du mouvement ouvrier français, éd. de l'Atelier, cd-rom, 1997 - Louis Nogueres, Vichy, juillet 1940, Collection Pour une histoire du XXe siècle, Paris, Fayard, 2000, 156p.