Roger Salengro
Encyclopedia
Roger Henri Charles Salengro (born May 30, 1890 in Lille
Lille
Lille is a city in northern France . It is the principal city of the Lille Métropole, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the country behind those of Paris, Lyon and Marseille. Lille is situated on the Deûle River, near France's border with Belgium...

, died November 18, 1936 in Lille) was a French
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
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

. He achieved fame as Minister of the Interior during the Popular Front
Popular Front (France)
The Popular Front was an alliance of left-wing movements, including the French Communist Party , the French Section of the Workers' International and the Radical and Socialist Party, during the interwar period...

 government in 1936. He committed suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...

 a few months after taking office, after being hounded by a calumny campaign orchestrated by extreme right-wing newspapers.

Early years

In 1909, Salengro enrolled at the University of Lille
Charles de Gaulle University - Lille III
The Charles de Gaulle University - Lille III is a French university. Since 1974, the main campus of University of Lille III is located in Villeneuve d'Ascq in southern Lille, at Pont de Bois metro station, and includes 21,000 students.University of Lille III inherits from the humanities taught for...

 to study literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...

. The same year, he joined the French Section of the Workers' International, a socialist
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...

 party, and founded a left-wing students' organisation.

In 1914, he signed up to join the French military
Military of France
The French Armed Forces encompass the French Army, the French Navy, the French Air Force and the National Gendarmerie. The President of the Republic heads the armed forces, with the title "chef des armées" . The President is the supreme authority for military matters and is the sole official who...

 for the First World War, despite having spoken out as a pacifist
Pacifism
Pacifism is the opposition to war and violence. The term "pacifism" was coined by the French peace campaignerÉmile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress inGlasgow in 1901.- Definition :...

 in previous years. Captured by the Germans on October 7, 1915, he became a prisoner of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...

. He refused to work in a German factory, and was incarcerated. His treatment was harsh; he weighed only 42 kg when he was freed after the war.

In 1918, he became a journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...

, and resumed his involvement in politics. In 1919, he was elected municipal councillor
Municipal council
A municipal council is the local government of a municipality. Specifically the term can refer to the institutions of various countries that can be translated by this term...

 in Lille, and general councillor
General councils (France)
The General councils are assemblies of the French departments. They are elected by universal suffrage.-List of the Presidents of the General councils:-External links:*...

 of the Lille-Sud-Ouest canton
Cantons of France
The cantons of France are territorial subdivisions of the French Republic's 342 arrondissements and 101 departments.Apart from their role as organizational units in certain aspects of the administration of public services and justice, the chief purpose of the cantons today is to serve as...

.

In 1925, Salengro was elected mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....

 of Lille. He was re-elected in 1929 and in 1935. In 1928, he was elected
French legislative election, 1928
Legislative elections in France to elect the 14th legislature of the French Third Republic were held on 22 and 29 April 1928.-Popular Vote:-Parliamentary Groups:...

 Member of Parliament, then re-elected in 1932 and in 1936
French legislative election, 1936
French legislative elections to elect the 16th legislature of the French Third Republic were held on 26 April and 3 May 1936. This was the last legislature of the Third Republic and the last election before the Second World War. The number of candidates set a record, with 4,807 people vying for 618...

.

Member of Cabinet, and suicide

The 1936 legislative election
French legislative election, 1936
French legislative elections to elect the 16th legislature of the French Third Republic were held on 26 April and 3 May 1936. This was the last legislature of the Third Republic and the last election before the Second World War. The number of candidates set a record, with 4,807 people vying for 618...

 brought the Popular Front
Popular Front (France)
The Popular Front was an alliance of left-wing movements, including the French Communist Party , the French Section of the Workers' International and the Radical and Socialist Party, during the interwar period...

 to power for the first time, led by Léon Blum
Léon Blum
André Léon Blum was a French politician, usually identified with the moderate left, and three times the Prime Minister of France.-First political experiences:...

. Blum appointed Salengro Minister of the Interior. The new government set about implementing social reforms, and one of its first achievements was the signing of the Matignon Agreements, which was publicly announced by Salengro.

The 1930s were marked by the activities of extreme right-wing groups violently opposed to the Popular Front. The government was opposed by right-wing extremist leagues such as the Croix-de-Feu
Croix-de-Feu
Croix-de-Feu was a French far right league of the Interwar period, led by Colonel François de la Rocque . After it was dissolved, as were all other far right leagues during the Popular Front period , de la Rocque replaced it with the Parti social français .- Beginnings :The Croix-de-Feu were...

, by the anti-Semitic
Anti-Semitism
Antisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...

, monarchist
Monarchism
Monarchism is the advocacy of the establishment, preservation, or restoration of a monarchy as a form of government in a nation. A monarchist is an individual who supports this form of government out of principle, independent from the person, the Monarch.In this system, the Monarch may be the...

 Action Française
Action Française
The Action Française , founded in 1898, is a French Monarchist counter-revolutionary movement and periodical founded by Maurice Pujo and Henri Vaugeois and whose principal ideologist was Charles Maurras...

 and by the fascist
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...

 terrorist
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...

 group La Cagoule
La Cagoule
La Cagoule , officially called Comité secret d'action révolutionnaire , was a violent French fascist-leaning and anti-communist group, active in the 1930s, and designed to attempt the overthrow of the French Third Republic...

. On July 14, France's national day, celebrated with military ceremonies-, the Action Française's newspaper published a libelous article claiming that Salengro had not been captured by German forces in 1915 but had instead deserted
Desertion
In military terminology, desertion is the abandonment of a "duty" or post without permission and is done with the intention of not returning...

. The claim was relayed by other far-right movements, and reprinted repeatedly in far-right newspapers such as Gringoire
Gringoire (newspaper)
Gringoire was a political and literary weekly newspaper in France, founded in 1928 by Horace de Carbuccia , Georges Suarez and Joseph Kessel....

, sparking the "Salengro Affair". It was echoed in the National Assembly by far-right Members of Parliament such as Henri Becquart. A military commission which looked into the claims refuted them categorically, but the calumny persisted. No shred of evidence was ever put forward to support the claim that Salengro's service during the war had been anything other than honourable. On November 13, at Léon Blum's initiative, the Assembly voted to condemn the libelous campaign, by 427 votes out of 530.

During the night between November 17 and November 18, "exhausted and ill", Roger Salengro committed suicide at his home in Lille, where he lived alone. A million people attended his funeral on November 22.

On April 14, 2009, France 2
France 2
France 2 is a French public national television channel. It is part of the state-owned France Télévisions group, along with France 3, France 4, France 5 and France Ô...

 broadcast a television film about the "Salengro Affair", entitled L'Affaire Salengro. Roger Salengro was played by actor Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu
Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu
Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu was a French actor.-Biography:Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu studied theater and film at the Sorbonne Paris III and began his career in film at the age of 25 by making appearances with acclaimed directors...

.
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