Germaine Poinso-Chapuis
Germaine Poinso-Chapuis | |
---|---|
Minister for Public Health and Population | |
In office November 1947 – July 1948 | |
Preceded by | Robert Prigent |
Succeeded by | Pierre Schneiter |
Personal details | |
Born | 6 March 1901 Marseille |
Died | 20 February 1981 Marseille |
Nationality | French |
Political party | Popular Republican Movement |
Domestic partner | Henri Poinso |
Occupation | Lawyer |
Germaine Poinso-Chapuis (6 March 1901,
Political career
Born Germaine Chapuis in the
Poinso-Chapuis was in November 1947 appointed to the ministry of Public Health and Population in the government of Robert Schuman.[5] In the month before the government fell, Poinso-Chapuis brought in a decree which gave an allowance to every parent of a French school child.[2] She remained the only woman to have served as a minister of France until 1974, when Simone Veil took over the same portfolio.[10]
The "Poinso-Chapuis decree"
In post Poinso-Chapuis introduced a number of measures, including to extend the provision of vaccination and to enhance the status of nurses.[1] However, her name was most associated with a measure nicknamed the "décret Poinso-Chapuis".[11] The May 1948 decree by Prime Minister Schuman, proposed to grant non-state family associations permission to receive public funds to be spent on child welfare provisions irrespective of whether the children were enrolled in secular state schools or in church-financed institutions.
The measure proved intensely controversial, with Education Minister Édouard Depreux claiming that it was invalid without his signature. Though the Council of State ruled that the measure was legal, its implementation was temporarily suspended.[1] The affair proved poisonous both to Poinso-Chapuis's ministerial career and to the government of Schuman,[11] who was shortly afterward replaced as Prime Minister (albeit only for a month) by the Radical André Marie.[1] Poinso-Chapuis too, although she had never formally signed the decree,[11] lost her post over the affair, being replaced by Pierre Schneiter.[1]
Poinso-Chapuis nonetheless remained a member of the National Assembly, winning reelection in the 1951 elections. For the remainder of her career she voted largely with the MRP party line.[1]
Personal life
Poinso-Chapuis was married in 1937 to Henri Poinso, a fellow lawyer, with whom she had two children.[1]
Legacy
Several places are named after her, including a street in Poitiers and a technical high-school in Marseille.
Honours
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "Germaine POINSO-CHAPUIS" (in French). Assemblee Nationale de France. Retrieved 23 November 2010.
- ^ ISBN 0-7146-8567-4.
- ^ Current Biography Yearbook. Vol. 10. H W Wilson. 1949. p. 499.
- ISSN 1149-1590.
- ^ a b McCarthy, Kathy D. Women, philanthropy, and civil society. p. 53.
- ISBN 1-57181-297-0.
- ^ "Germaine Poinso-Chapuis, première femme ministre d'État" (in French).
- ^ "Germaine Poinso-Chapuis" (in French).
- ISBN 0-521-77344-X.
- ISBN 0-313-31071-8.
- ^ ISBN 2-7449-0036-2.
External links
Media related to Germaine Poinso-Chapuis at Wikimedia Commons
- Review and summary, by Sylvie Chaperon, of Germaine Poinso-Chapuis: Femme d'État, by Yvonne Knibiehler, published in 1998.