Urbain Blanc

Urbain Blanc (1863–1943) was a French administrator and diplomat active in French colonial administrations in Morocco and Tunisia.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]} Starting in 1919, he spent 15 years representing the French Ministry for Foreign Affairs as a senior administrator in Morocco, collaborating with résidents générals Hubert Lyautey, Théodore Steeg, Lucien Saint, and Henri Ponsot.^[1][7]

Urbain Blanc
Born	(1863-11-08)November 8, 1863

Biography

Urbain Blanc was born November 8, 1863, in Saissac (Aude) in France and studied at the Lycée de Carcassonne.^[1][8] He began his career in 1889 as a redactor at the French Ministry of Interior.^[1] In 1893, he became the personal secretary to the minister of the interior, Alexandre Ribot.^[1] September 1, 1905, he was named inspector general of the Ministry of Interior's administrative services.^[1]

From 1906 to 1907, he was cabinet chief for Georges Clemenceau, then President of the Council of Ministers.^[1] On December 30, 1907, he joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was named general secretary of the government in Tunisia.^[1]

On May 1, 1919, he was assigned to the French Résidence Générale in Morocco and was made general secretary of the French Protectorate.^[1] He would spend the rest of his career in his assignment to Morocco, collaborating with résidents générals Hubert Lyautey, Théodore Steeg, Lucien Saint, and Henri Ponsot, sometimes leading the French government in Morocco in interim periods.^[1]

In 1921, Blanc was named Minister Plenipotentiary.^[1] In 1932, he was made a commander in France's Legion of Honour.^[1] In 1926 he was made Minister Plenipotentiary, first class.^[1] In 1933 he was promoted to the grade of grand officer in the Legion of Honnor.^[1] He was also accorded the grand cordon of the Order of Ouissam Alaouite.^[8] He retired definitively February 1934.^[8]

References

1. "La Vigie marocaine". Gallica. 1943-11-03. Retrieved 2023-03-08.
2. Goodman, R. David (2013). "Expediency, Ambivalence, and Inaction: The French Protectorate and Domestic Slavery in Morocco, 1912-1956". Journal of Social History. 47 (1): 101–131. doi:10.1093/jsh/sht053. ISSN 0022-4529. JSTOR 43306047.
3. Hoisington, William A. (1978). "Cities in Revolt: The Berber Dahir (1930) and France's Urban Strategy in Morocco". Journal of Contemporary History. 13 (3): 433–448. doi:10.1177/002200947801300302. ISSN 0022-0094. JSTOR 260203. S2CID 163071715.
4. Martínez, Francisco Javier (2016). Double trouble: French colonialism in Morocco and the early history of the Pasteur institutes of Tangier and Casablanca (1895-1932). OCLC 1133037159.
5. Wadia, Guillaume N. (2018-09-25). "A Constellation of Outposts: French Intelligence Services and the Administration of the French Protectorate of Morocco, 1912-1937". Harvard Library.
6. Bessac-Vaure, Stève (2020). "Groupes armés et monopolisation de la violence dans l'empire chérifien (années 1900-1920)". 20 & 21. Revue d'histoire. 2020 (1): 49–61. doi:10.3917/vin.145.0049. ISSN 2649-664X. S2CID 213208223.
7. Hoisington, William A (2001). "French rule and the Moroccan elite" (PDF). Hespéris-Tamuda. XXXIX: 59–69. OCLC 772027010.
8. "Le Petit Marocain". Gallica. 1943-11-03. Retrieved 2023-03-08.