Minister of Information (France)

The Minister of Information (French: Ministre de l'information) was the leader and most senior official of the French Ministry of Information. It was a position in the Government of France from 1938 to 1974 and no longer exists.

Minister of Information
Ministre de l'information
Longest serving Alain Peyrefitte 6 December 1962 – 8 January 1966
Ministry of Information
Status	Abolished
Member of	Government Council of Ministers
Reports to	Prime Minister
Nominator	Prime Minister
Appointer	President
Term length	No fixed term
Formation	13 March 1938
First holder	Ludovic-Oscar Frossard
Final holder	Jean-Philippe Lecat
Abolished	28 May 1974

History

Initially created under the name of Minister of Propaganda under the second government of Léon Blum, the office adopted the Information denomination with the following administrations until 1974, date to which it was definitely disestablished.

Powers and functions

Officeholders

Third Republic

No.	Portrait	Name		Term			Government	President	Ref.
		Took office	Left office	Time in office
Ministry established
1			Ludovic-Oscar Frossard	13 March 1938	10 April 1938	28 days	Blum II	Albert Lebrun	[1]
Office vacant from 10 April 1938 to 29 July 1939.
2			Jean Giraudoux	29 July 1939	21 March 1940	236 days	Daladier IV–V	Albert Lebrun	[2]
3			Ludovic-Oscar Frossard	21 March 1940	5 June 1940	76 days	Raynaud		[3]
4			Jean Prouvost	5 June 1940	12 July 1940	37 days	Raynaud Pétain		[4]

Vichy France

No.	Portrait	Name		Term			Government	Chief	Ref.
		Took office	Left office	Time in office
-			Pierre Laval	12 July 1940	13 December 1940	154 days	Laval V	Philippe Pétain	[5]
-			Paul Baudoin	13 December 1940	2 January 1941	20 days	Flandin		[6]
-			Paul Marion	23 February 1941	18 April 1942	1 year, 54 days	Darlan		[7]
-			Pierre Laval	18 April 1942	20 August 1944	2 years, 124 days	Laval VI		[8]

Free France

No.	Portrait	Name		Term			Government	Leader	Ref.
		Took office	Left office	Time in office
5			André Diethelm	24 September 1941	28 July 1942	307 days	CNF	Charles de Gaulle	[9]
6			Jacques Soustelle	28 July 1942	7 June 1943	314 days			[10]
7			Henri Bonnet	7 June 1943	10 September 1944	1 year, 95 days	CFLN		[11]

Provisional Government

No.	Portrait	Name		Term			Government	President	Ref.
		Took office	Left office	Time in office
8			Pierre-Henri Teitgen	10 September 1944	30 May 1945	262 days	de Gaulle I	Charles de Gaulle	[12]
9			Jacques Soustelle	30 May 1945	21 November 1945	175 days			[13]
10			André Malraux	21 November 1945	26 January 1946	66 days	de Gaulle II		[14]
11			Gaston Defferre	26 January 1946	24 June 1946	149 days	Gouin	Félix Gouin	[15]
12			Robert Bichet	24 June 1946	16 December 1946	172 days	Bidault I	Georges Bidault	[16]
Office vacant from 16 December 1946 to 26 July 1948.

Fourth Republic

No.	Portrait	Name		Term			Government	President	Ref.
		Took office	Left office	Time in office
13			François Mitterrand	26 July 1948	5 September 1948	41 days	Marie	Vincent Auriol	[17]
Office vacant from 5 September 1948 to 28 October 1949.
14			Pierre-Henri Teitgen	28 October 1949	2 July 1950	247 days	Bidault I–II	Vincent Auriol	[18]
15			Jean Letourneau	2 July 1950	12 July 1950	10 days	Queuille II		[19]
16			Albert Gazier	12 July 1950	11 August 1951	1 year, 30 days	Pleven I Queuille III		[20]
17			Robert Buron	11 August 1951	20 January 1952	162 days	Pleven II		[21]
18			Paul Coste-Floret	20 January 1952	8 March 1952	48 days	Faure I		[22]
Office vacant from 8 March 1952 to 8 January 1953.
19			Émile Hugues	8 January 1953	18 June 1954	1 year, 161 days	Mayer Laniel I–II	Vincent Auriol	[23]
								René Coty
Office vacant from 18 June 1954 to 20 February 1955.
20			Georges Galy-Gasparrou	20 January 1955	23 February 1955	34 days	Mendès-France	René Coty	[24]
Office vacant from 23 February 1955 to 1 February 1956.
21			Gérard Jacquet	1 February 1956	17 June 1957	1 year, 136 days	Mollet	René Coty	[25]
22			Michel Soulié	17 June 1957	11 November 1957	147 days	Bourgès-Maunoury		[26]
23			Émile Claparède	11 November 1957	17 May 1958	187 days	Gaillard		[27]
24			Albert Gazier	17 May 1958	1 June 1958	15 days	Pflimlin		[28]
25			André Malraux	1 June 1958	7 July 1958	36 days	de Gaulle III		[29]
26			Jacques Soustelle	7 July 1958	8 January 1959	185 days			[30]

Fifth Republic

No.	Portrait	Name		Term			Government	President	Ref.
		Took office	Left office	Time in office
27			Roger Frey	8 January 1959	5 February 1960	1 year, 28 days	Debré	Charles de Gaulle	[31]
28			Louis Terrenoire	5 February 1960	24 August 1961	1 year, 178 days			[32]
29			Christian de La Malène	24 August 1961	15 April 1962	234 days			[33]
30			Alain Peyrefitte	15 April 1962	11 September 1962	149 days	Pompidou I		[34]
31			Christian Fouchet	11 September 1962	6 December 1962	86 days			[35]
32			Alain Peyrefitte	6 December 1962	8 January 1966	3 years, 33 days	Pompidou II		[36]
33			Yvon Bourges	8 January 1966	7 April 1967	1 year, 89 days	Pompidou III		[37]
34			Georges Gorse	7 April 1967	31 May 1968	1 year, 54 days	Pompidou IV		[38]
35			Yves Guéna	31 May 1968	12 July 1968	42 days			[39]
36			Joël Le Theule	12 July 1968	22 June 1969	345 days	Couve de Murville		[40]
								Interim : Alain Poher
Office vacant from 22 June 1969 to 6 July 1972.
37			Philippe Malaud	6 July 1972	23 October 1973	1 year, 109 days	Messmer I–II	Georges Pompidou	[41]
38			Jean-Philippe Lecat	23 October 1973	28 May 1974	217 days	Messmer II–III		[42]
								Interim : Alain Poher
Ministry disestablished

Notes

References

1. Government of the French Republic (13 March 1938). "Decree on the composition of the government". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 14 July 2020.
2. Government of the French Republic (29 July 1939). "Decree on the composition of the government". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 14 July 2020.
3. Government of the French Republic (21 March 1940). "Decree on the composition of the government". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 14 July 2020.
4. Government of the French Republic (5 June 1940). "Decree on the composition of the government". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 14 July 2020.
5. Government of the French State (12 July 1940). "Decree on the composition of the government". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 14 July 2020.
6. Government of the French State (13 December 1940). "Decree on the composition of the government". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 14 July 2020.
7. Government of the French State (23 February 1941). "Decree on the composition of the government". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 14 July 2020.
8. Government of the French State (18 April 1942). "Decree on the composition of the government". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 14 July 2020.
9. Government of the French Republic (24 September 1941). "Decree on the composition of the government". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 10 March 2020.
10. Government of the French Republic (28 July 1942). "Decree on the composition of the government". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 13 July 2020.
11. Government of the French Republic (7 June 1943). "Decree on the composition of the government". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 13 July 2020.
12. Government of the French Republic (10 September 1944). "Decree on the composition of the government". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 13 July 2020.
13. Government of the French Republic (30 May 1945). "Decree on the composition of the government". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 13 July 2020.
14. Government of the French Republic (21 November 1945). "Decree on the composition of the government". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 13 July 2020.
15. Government of the French Republic (26 January 1946). "Decree on the composition of the government". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 13 July 2020.
16. Government of the French Republic (24 June 1946). "Decree on the composition of the government". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 13 July 2020.
17. Government of the French Republic (26 July 1948). "Decree on the composition of the government". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 13 September 2020.
18. Government of the French Republic (28 October 1949). "Decree on the composition of the government". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 13 September 2020.
19. Government of the French Republic (2 July 1950). "Decree on the composition of the government". legifrance.gouv.fr (in French). Retrieved 13 July 2020.
20. Government of the French Republic (12 July 1950). "Decree on the composition of the government". legifrance.gouv.fr (in French). Retrieved 13 July 2020.
21. Government of the French Republic (11 August 1951). "Decree on the composition of the government". legifrance.gouv.fr (in French). Retrieved 13 July 2020.
22. Government of the French Republic (20 January 1952). "Decree on the composition of the government". legifrance.gouv.fr (in French). Retrieved 13 July 2020.
23. Government of the French Republic (8 January 1953). "Decree on the composition of the government". legifrance.gouv.fr (in French). Retrieved 13 July 2020.
24. Government of the French Republic (20 January 1955). "Decree on the composition of the government". legifrance.gouv.fr (in French). Retrieved 13 July 2020.
25. Government of the French Republic (1 February 1956). "Decree on the composition of the government". legifrance.gouv.fr (in French). Retrieved 13 July 2020.
26. Government of the French Republic (17 June 1957). "Decree on the composition of the government". legifrance.gouv.fr (in French). Retrieved 13 July 2020.
27. Government of the French Republic (11 November 1957). "Decree on the composition of the government". legifrance.gouv.fr (in French). Retrieved 13 July 2020.
28. Government of the French Republic (17 May 1958). "Decree on the composition of the government". legifrance.gouv.fr (in French). Retrieved 13 July 2020.
29. Government of the French Republic (1 June 1958). "Decree on the composition of the government". legifrance.gouv.fr (in French). Retrieved 13 July 2020.
30. Government of the French Republic (7 July 1958). "Decree on the composition of the government". legifrance.gouv.fr (in French). Retrieved 13 July 2020.
31. Government of the French Republic (8 January 1959). "Decree on the composition of the government". legifrance.gouv.fr (in French). Retrieved 13 July 2020.
32. Government of the French Republic (5 February 1960). "Decree on the composition of the government". legifrance.gouv.fr (in French). Retrieved 13 July 2020.
33. Government of the French Republic (24 August 1961). "Decree on the composition of the government". legifrance.gouv.fr (in French). Retrieved 13 July 2020.
34. Government of the French Republic (15 April 1962). "Decree on the composition of the government". legifrance.gouv.fr (in French). Retrieved 13 July 2020.
35. Government of the French Republic (11 September 1962). "Decree on the composition of the government". legifrance.gouv.fr (in French). Retrieved 13 July 2020.
36. Government of the French Republic (6 December 1962). "Decree on the composition of the government". legifrance.gouv.fr (in French). Retrieved 13 July 2020.
37. Government of the French Republic (8 January 1966). "Decree on the composition of the government". legifrance.gouv.fr (in French). Retrieved 13 July 2020.
38. Government of the French Republic (7 April 1967). "Decree on the composition of the government". legifrance.gouv.fr (in French). Retrieved 13 July 2020.
39. Government of the French Republic (31 May 1968). "Decree on the composition of the government". legifrance.gouv.fr (in French). Retrieved 13 July 2020.
40. Government of the French Republic (12 July 1968). "Decree on the composition of the government". legifrance.gouv.fr (in French). Retrieved 13 July 2020.
41. Government of the French Republic (6 July 1972). "Decree on the composition of the government". legifrance.gouv.fr (in French). Retrieved 13 July 2020.
42. Government of the French Republic (23 October 1973). "Decree on the composition of the government". legifrance.gouv.fr (in French). Retrieved 13 July 2020.