François de Menthon

François de Menthon ( born January 8, 1900 in Montmirey -la -Ville, Jura, France, † June 2, 1984 in Annecy, Haute- Savoie) was a French politician, lawyer and French chief prosecutor at the Nuremberg Trials 1945 /46.

Life

With 17 years of Menthon occurred at the beginning of his law studies in Dijon Action catholique de la jeunesse française ( ACJF, Catholic Action of the French youth). From 1927 to 1930 he was president of the Catholic Youth Movement and founded the Jeunesse ouvrière chrétienne. Admitted to the bar, menthone returned as a professor of law at the Chair of Political Economy at the University of Lyon. His attention was paid to labor. During the Third Republic, he was a member of the Republican- Democratic Party.

Resistance

Menthon was drafted as a father of six children at the beginning of World War II with the rank of captain in the army, severely wounded on 18 June 1940 and was taken prisoner, but he managed to escape. In several visits of Jean Moulin, he received him in the Château de Menthon -Saint -Bernard Castle. In the Christian democratic milieu of Annecy he created in November 1940 together with Pierre -Henri Teitgen, René Courtin, René Paul Coste -Floret Capitant and the first resistance movement Liberté. In November 1942, together with Henri Frenay Liberté decided Mouvement de Libération national resistance group establishing the common Résistancegruppe Combat. Menthon was appointed editor of the secret newspaper of the same name, of which the first two editions were printed in Annecy, the following in Marseille. On the way back to Annecy Menthon was arrested in Baumette transported for questioning to Vichy, which was carried out by a small motivated officials and ended with his release.

Jean Moulin, de Gaulle's tireless emissary formed in April under the name Comité Général d' études (CGE, general committee for studies ) a national committee of experts, one of the menthone under the code name Tertius. After Menthon had not hidden its fundamental aversion to the politics of Vichy, he was expelled in 1942 from his professorship and dived into the ground. 1943 closed Menthon General de Gaulle in London and later followed him to Algiers, where he served on 4 September 1943 to 10 September 1944 as justice commissioner of the Comité Français de la Libération Nationale ( CFLN ).

After the liberation of France Menthon served as justice minister in de Gaulle's first provisional government in Paris from 10 September 1944 to 8 May 1945. Also the following reign he belonged to 21 November as Minister of Justice. In this role, he led the Commission d' EPURATION ( = cleansing Commission) of the judiciary, police and administration of collaborators and sympathizers of the Vichy regime and the preparations for the trial of the aged Marshal Philippe Pétain. At times he was criticized by his students for the massive cleanup.

1946 nominated de Gaulle menthone to the French chief prosecutor before the International Military Tribunal at the Nuremberg Trials. From it the following definition of crimes against humanity originates: "Crimes against the demand to be human, motivated by an ideology that is a crime against the spirit, throw back with the purpose of humanity to barbarism. "

Political work

Since 1946 to 1958 he was a founding member of the Mouvement populaire républicain ( MRP) delegates of the constituency Savoie in the French National Assembly. From June 24 to 16 December 1946, he served as Minister of Economic Affairs in the Cabinet Georges Bidault. Between 1952 and 1954 he was President of the Consultative Assembly of the Council. In this capacity, he presented the first Stars and Stripes of this European Community.

After the establishment of the Fifth Republic, which completely cut de Gaulle through his referendum on his person, menthone moved back to teaching at the University of Nancy. From 1945 to 1977 he was active as mayor of his community Menthon -Saint -Bernard.

Menthon also founded the movement Jeunesse catholique ouvrière ( = Catholic Worker Youth). His son Olivier de Menthon explained this as follows: " He estimated that the role of Catholics to participate in the evolution of society. "

Family

He and his wife Nicole, he became the father of six sons:

• Bernard, farmer in the department of Cher, who died in 2000;
• Jean, financial inspector in Paris,
• Jacques died,
• Étienne, wine in the Vaucluse,
• Olivier, Lord of the Manor, MP, member of the General Council and Mayor of Menthon -Saint -Bernard,
• Sixte, teacher in Paris

Works

• François de Menthon: Draft Federal Constitution of the United States of Europe, June 1948