Jean Médecin
Encyclopedia
Jean Médecin was a French lawyer and politician. He was Mayor of Nice, France
Nice
Nice is the fifth most populous city in France, after Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse, with a population of 348,721 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Nice extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of more than 955,000 on an area of...

 from 1928 to 1943 and from 1947 to 1965, and the father of Jacques Médecin
Jacques Médecin
Jacques Médecin was a French politician. A member of the Gaullist RPR, he served as mayor of the city of Nice from 1966 to 1990...

, who succeeded him as mayor until 1990.

Before the war

He born in Nice
Nice
Nice is the fifth most populous city in France, after Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse, with a population of 348,721 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Nice extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of more than 955,000 on an area of...

 to a respectable family. After studying in Paris, he joined the military and fought in the First World War. In 1914 he was promoted to corporal
Corporal
Corporal is a rank in use in some form by most militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. It is usually equivalent to NATO Rank Code OR-4....

, then in 1916 to the rank of captain. After the battle of Verdun
Verdun
Verdun is a city in the Meuse department in Lorraine in north-eastern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.Verdun is the biggest city in Meuse, although the capital of the department is the slightly smaller city of Bar-le-Duc.- History :...

 he was awarded the French Legion of Honour and the Croix de Guerre
Croix de guerre
The Croix de guerre is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was awarded during World War I, again in World War II, and in other conflicts...

.

Upon his return to Nice in 1919, he briefly practised as a lawyer before entering politics. In 1919, he was elected as a Municipal Councillor, and in 1928, Mayor of Nice. He achieved notoriety when he was allowed to stay as mayor for 34 years. He was elected Councillor General of Sospel (1931), then deputy of the first circumscription of Nice (1932).

Politically republican, democratic, independent and moderate, he sat within the left-leaning independents, then moved more to the centre with the local political party he created called “Le Rassemblement des Indépendants” (“The Assembly of Independents”). However, Médecin increasingly moved toward the far right
Far right
Far-right, extreme right, hard right, radical right, and ultra-right are terms used to discuss the qualitative or quantitative position a group or person occupies within right-wing politics. Far-right politics may involve anti-immigration and anti-integration stances towards groups that are...

, and joined Jacques Doriot
Jacques Doriot
Jacques Doriot was a French politician prior to and during World War II. He began as a Communist but then turned Fascist.-Early life and politics:...

's fascist Parti Populaire Français
Parti Populaire Français
The Parti Populaire Français was a fascist political party led by Jacques Doriot before and during World War II...

in 1936.

Elected Senator of the Alpes-Maritimes
Alpes-Maritimes
Alpes-Maritimes is a department in the extreme southeast corner of France.- History : was created by Octavian as a Roman military district in 14 BC, and became a full Roman province in the middle of the 1st century with its capital first at Cemenelum and subsequently at Embrun...

 in 1939, he voted with enthusiasm for the giving of full powers to Maréchal 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...

, whom he wanted to conserve his mandates. But in 1942, he did not support the Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 fascists then in occupation of Nice. In open dispute with the government, he was removed from his mayorship in 1943. He fled to Avignon
Avignon
Avignon is a French commune in southeastern France in the départment of the Vaucluse bordered by the left bank of the Rhône river. Of the 94,787 inhabitants of the city on 1 January 2010, 12 000 live in the ancient town centre surrounded by its medieval ramparts.Often referred to as the...

 and then to Annot
Annot
Annot is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in southeastern France in the region Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur.-Geography:It is situated on the banks of the Vaïre river which flows right through the centre of town. It is located 15 km west of Entrevaux.The city is located in a...

, but he was arrested in 1944 and incarcerated in Nice. He was moved to Belfort
Belfort
Belfort is a commune in the Territoire de Belfort department in Franche-Comté in northeastern France and is the prefecture of the department. It is located on the Savoureuse, on the strategically important natural route between the Rhine and the Rhône – the Belfort Gap or Burgundian Gate .-...

 in the same year, where he was able to escape captivity.

After the war

On his return to Nice after the Second World War, he was accused of collaborating with the Vichy Regime, and lost some standing in the municipal elections. However, little by little he got back his former positions, and finally reclaimed the mayor’s seat in 1947. Médecin was a bitter opponent of Gaullism
Gaullism
Gaullism is a French political ideology based on the thought and action of Resistance leader then president Charles de Gaulle.-Foreign policy:...

.

In 1951 he was elected President of the General Council of the Alpes-Maritimes, and in 1953, he became a candidate for the presidential election. From March 1955 to January 1965, he was designated Secretary of State by Edgar Faure
Edgar Faure
Edgar Faure was a French politician, essayist, historian, and memoirist.-Career:Faure was born in Béziers, Languedoc-Roussillon. He trained as a lawyer in Paris and became a member of the Bar at 27, the youngest lawyer in France to do so at the time...

. In the presidential election of 1965
French presidential election, 1965
The 1965 French presidential election was the first presidential election by direct universal suffrage of the Fifth Republic. It was also the first presidential election by direct universal suffrage since the Second Republic in 1848. It was won by incumbent president Charles de Gaulle who resigned...

 he ferociously opposed 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....

.

In 1961, he handed over many mandates to his son, Jacques Médecin
Jacques Médecin
Jacques Médecin was a French politician. A member of the Gaullist RPR, he served as mayor of the city of Nice from 1966 to 1990...

, who would succeed him as mayor of Nice after his death. He died in office.

See also

  • Jacques Médecin
    Jacques Médecin
    Jacques Médecin was a French politician. A member of the Gaullist RPR, he served as mayor of the city of Nice from 1966 to 1990...

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