Alain Savary

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Alain Savary (April 25, 1918 - February 2, 1988) was a French Socialist politician.

In 1940, as soon as France is occupated by the German army, he enlisted in the Resistance. He organized the rallying of Saint-Pierre et Miquelon to the Free French Forces and became its governor. After the war, he participated to the restoring of the Republican State.

Member of the socialist party SFIO, he was deputy for Saint Pierre et Miquelon from 1944 to 1946 and from 1951 to 1958. In 1956, he is nominated Secretary of State to the Foreign Affairs in Guy Mollet's cabinet, but resigned in due to his opposition to the repressive policy of Mollet in Algerian War. He left the SFIO in 1958, because of the support of the party to De Gaulle's come back and to the new constitution.

With Pierre Mendès-France, he founded the Autonomous Socialist Party (Parti socialiste autonome or PSA) which became, in 1960, the Unified Socialist Party (Parti socialiste unifié or PSU). However, he left it in 1967 and created the Union of clubs for the renewal of the left, which merged in the Federation of the Democratic and Socialist Left (FGDS) which supported François Mitterrand at the 1965 presidential election. Then, he returned in the "old socialist house" when it was replaced by the Socialist Party (Parti socialiste or PS).

Reconciled with Guy Mollet, he succeeded him to the lead of the party in 1969. He promised to begin an "ideological dialogue" with the French Communist Party. Yet, two years later, he was overthrown by François Mitterrand during the Epinay Congress, who proposed an alliance with the Communists based on a Common Programme.

Deputy for Haute Garonne in 1973, then Minister of National Education in 1981, he resigned three years later, after the failure of his project to limit the financing of the private schools.