Roger Salengro

Roger Henri Charles Salengro (* May 30, 1890 in Lille, † November 17, 1936 in Lille) was a French politician.

Salengro spent his childhood until 1904 in Dunkirk. He then studied literature at the University of Lille, where he joined the Section Française de l' International ouvrière ( SFIO ) and established a socialist student group. From 1912 he did his military service, where he came on Carnet B, the list of known enemies of the state. He came in 1914 in prison, from which he was dismissed in 1915 to return to his military unit.

In October 1915 Salengro was taken prisoner, from which he returned three years later. He worked as a journalist and was active in the SFIO North, for which he was elected in 1919 in the city council of Lille. In 1925 he became the successor of Gustave Delory as mayor of Lille, 1929 and 1935, he was re-elected in this function.

Since 1928 Salengro was a member of the National Assembly, 1936, he was Minister of the Interior of the Popular Front of Léon Blum. Its use against the right Action Française and the journal Gringoire led to a smear campaign against him. On 14 July 1936, the opposition politician Henri Becquart in the National Assembly submitted the accusation Salengro had deserted during the First World War in 1916. Although a military investigation committee refuted the allegation that the allegations held stubbornly. As a result Salengro committed on the night of 17th to 18th November, 1936.

His funeral took place under great public participation on November 22. A few months after his death was exacerbated the threat of punishment for slander in the press law. The composer Robert Lannoy composed a piece Mort de Roger Salengro. On French television, the film L'Affaire Salengro with Bernard- Pierre Donnadieu 2009 was shown in the lead role.