Pinay, Antoine

(1891-1994)

   political figure

   Born in Saint-Symphorien-sur-Coise, Rhône, Antoine Pinay served as mayor of Saint-Chamond (1929-77), as deputy (1936-38), senator (1938-40), member of the Second Constituent Assembly (1946), deputy to the National Assembly (groupe des Independents, (1946-58), and honorary president of the Center coalition of independents and farmers, and was also a member of several cabinets during the fourth republic. Premier (March 1952) with the portfolio of finance, Pinay dedicated himself to strengthening the franc and dealt with the social malaise of the period by diverse stabilization measures (the posting of prices, the issuing of a guaranteed gold-backed loan, known as the "Pinay Loan," the creation of a sliding wage scale). In foreign affairs, Pinay's government was marked with the increasing military involvement in indochina and the signing of the Bonn Accords, which gave sovereignty to the three western sectors of Germany, and arranging for the bases of the European Defense Community. Pinay resigned in 1952, after having been abandoned by the MRP (mouvement républicain populaire) and being put in the minority over the question of the reform of the property tax and of social security. Foreign minister in the edgar faure cabinet (February 1955-January 1956), Pinay attended the 1954 Geneva Conference on disarmament and contributed to the granting of autonomy to Tunisia and the return of sultan Muhammad V to the Moroccan throne. A supporter of recalling General charles de gaulle during the May 1958 crisis in Algeria, Pinay was charged, as minister of finance and economic affairs (June 1958-January 1960) with stabilizing the financial situation (institution of the "new franc"). In 1973-74, Pinay served as a mediator within the government.