Pierre Mendés-France, France (1907-1982)
French statesman and Prime Minister (1954-5), born in Paris. A lawyer, he entered parliament in 1932, and in 1941 escaped imprisonment in Vichy France to join the Free French forces in England.
He was minister for national economy under Charles de Gaulle in 1945, and became a prominent member of the Radical Party. As prime minister, he ended the war in Indo-China, but his government was defeated on its North African policy. A firm critic of de Gaulle, he lost his seat in the 1958 election. He returned to the assembly in 1967, but retired due to ill health in 1973, later giving much attention to Israeli affairs.