Gaston Defferre

Gaston Defferre
Defferre in 1981
Mayor of Marseille
In office 9 May 1953 – 7 May 1986
Preceded by	Michel Carlini
Succeeded by	Jean-Victor Cordonnier [fr]
In office 30 August 1944 – 27 November 1945
Preceded by	Pierre Barraud
Succeeded by	Jean Cristofol
Minister of the Interior and of decentralization
In office 22 May 1981 – 19 July 1984
President	François Mitterrand
Prime Minister	Pierre Mauroy Laurent Fabius
Preceded by	Christian Bonnet
Succeeded by	Pierre Joxe
Minister for town and country planning
In office 17 July 1984 – 20 march 1986
President	François Mitterrand
Prime Minister	Laurent Fabius
Preceded by	Michel Rocard (indirectly)
Succeeded by	Hervé de Charette (Planning) Pierre Méhaignerie (Infrastructure)
Minister of the Overseas
In office 1 February 1956 – 13 June 1957
President	René Coty
Prime Minister	Guy Mollet
Preceded by	Pierre-Henri Teitgen
Succeeded by	Gérard Jaquet
Minister for the Merchant Navy
In office 12 July 1950 – 11 August 1951
President	Vincent Auriol
Prime Minister	Henri Queuille René Pleven
Preceded by	Lionel de Tinguy du Pouët
Succeeded by	André Morice
Member of the National Assembly
In office 2 April 1986 – 7 April 1986
Succeeded by	Jean-Jacques Léonetti
Parliamentary group	SOC
Constituency	Bouches-du-Rhône
In office 6 December 1962 – 25 July 1981
Preceded by	Charles Colonna d'Anfriani
Succeeded by	Philippe Sanmarco
Parliamentary group	SOC
Constituency	Bouches-du-Rhône's 3rd
In office 8 November 1945 – 5 December 1958
Parliamentary group	SOC
Constituency	Bouches-du-Rhône's 1st
President of the Socialist Group in the National Assembly
In office 7 December 1962 – 22 May 1981
Preceded by	Francis Leenhardt
Succeeded by	Pierre Joxe
Member of the Senate
In office 26 April 1959 – 6 December 1962
Succeeded by	Roger Delagnes
Parliamentary group	SOC
Under-secretary of State for Overseas territories
In office 16 December 1946 – 16 January 1947
Secretary of State for Information
In office 26 January 1946 – 24 June 1946
Personal details
Born	(1910-09-14)14 September 1910 Marsillargues, France
Died	7 May 1986(1986-05-07) (aged 75) Marseille, France
Political party	French Section of the Workers' International (1933–1969) Socialist Party (1969–1986)
Spouses	Andrée Aboulker ​ ​ (m. 1935; div. 1945)​ Marie-Antoinette Swaters ​ ​ (m. 1946; div. 1973)​ Edmonde Charles-Roux ​ ​ (m. 1973)​

Gaston Defferre (14 September 1910 – 7 May 1986) was a French Socialist politician. He served as mayor of Marseille for 33 years until his death in 1986. He was minister for overseas territories in Guy Mollet’s socialist government in 1956–1957. His main achievement was to establish the framework used to grant independence to France’s African territories. In 1967, he fought the last duel in French history. As the Socialist candidate for president in 1969, he received only 5 percent of the vote. He was much more successful in promoting François Mitterrand as leader of the Socialist Party (Parti Socialiste; PS) in 1971. He held a series of ministerial portfolios after the Socialist victory in 1981, especially as minister of state for the interior and decentralization.