Pierre Sudreau

Pierre Sudreau (13 May 1919 – 22 January 2012) was a French politician. He served as minister of Construction (1958–1962), minister of Education, member of the French National Assembly (1967–1981) and mayor of Blois (1971–1989).

His childhood correspondence with Antoine de Saint-Exupéry helped inspire the title character of the 1943 novel The Little Prince. During the German occupation of France in World War II, Sudreau was a resistance fighter in the Brutus Network. He was imprisoned in the Buchenwald concentration camp.

After the war, he made a rapid career in civil service and was responsible for the planning of major construction and infrastructure projects during General de Gaulle's government. A convinced pro-European, he presided European Movement France from 1962 to 1968. He was also a lobbyist for the French railway industry and chaired its association FIF from 1963 to 1996.

Biography Sudreau was born in Paris, the son of businessman Jean Sudreau and Marie-Marguerite (née Boyer) Sudreau. Sudreau studied law and history at the University of Paris (Sorbonne). He was preparing for the agrégation (state examination for high school teachers) in history but was prevented from taking it by the outbreak of the Second World War. While training as a fighter pilot at the École de l'air in Bordeaux-Mérignac, France fell to the German Wehrmacht and was forced to surrender in June 1940. Unlike some of his fellow students, he did not flee to England for family reasons (he had just married and had become the father of a child). Instead, he stayed in the so-called free zone in the south of France and served as an officer in the air force of the Vichy regime.

In 1985, Sudreau sat on the "Jury of Honor" that assessed whatever the film Des terroristes à la retraite should be aired in France or not. Sudreau referred to the recent Palestinian bombings of American and Israeli targets and stated: "at the very moment when we are again talking about direct action, this broadcast legitimizes terrorist methods.” The "Jury of Honor" in its report stated “though it is highly desirable that a film inform French of all generations about the saga of the FTP-MOI, such a film nevertheless still remains to be made”.

Personal life He was married to France Brun; they had three children: Jean Sudreau (predeceased), Anne Sudreau O'Connor (predeceased), and Bernard Sudreau.

Publications 1967 L'enchaînement (Plon) 1980 La stratégie de l'absurde (Plon) 1985 De l'inertie politique (éditions Stock) 1991 Au-delà de toutes les frontières