Lebrun, Albert

Lebrun, Albert (älbĕr` ləbröN`), 1871–1950, French statesman, last president of the Third Republic. Elected to the chamber of deputies in 1900, he later became a senator and held various cabinet posts. A moderate, he succeeded Paul Doumer as president in 1932 and was reelected in 1939. In July, 1940, the establishment of the Vichy government under Marshal Pétain deprived Lebrun of all authority. In 1944 he recognized Charles de Gaulle as provisional president of France.

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Lebrun, Albert

(born Aug. 29, 1871, Mercy-le-Haut, France—died March 6, 1950, Paris) French statesman and last president (1932–40) of France's Third Republic. Trained as a mining engineer, he served in the Chamber of Deputies (1900–20) and Senate (1920–32). He was elected president as a compromise candidate and served as a mediator and symbol of unity, rarely influencing policy. In 1940 he complied with the cabinet's decision to seek an armistice with Germany and acquiesced to his replacement by the Vichy France government. He was interned by the Germans (1943–44). In 1944 he acknowledged Charles de Gaulle as head of the provisional government.