Roger Salengro

Roger Salengro
Roger Salengro
	Salengro in 1930
Born	Roger Henri Charles Salengro; May 30, 1890; Lille, France
Died	November 18, 1936 (aged 46); Lille, France
Nationality	French
Alma mater	Charles de Gaulle University – Lille III
Occupation	Politician

Roger Henri Charles Salengro (30 May 1890, in

extreme right-wing

newspapers.

Listen to this article (4 minutes)

Audio help · More spoken articles

)

Early years

In 1909, Salengro enrolled at the

left-wing

students' organisation.

In 1914, he signed up to join the

First World War, despite having spoken out as a pacifist in previous years. Captured by the Germans on 7 October 1915, he became a prisoner of war

. He refused to work in a German factory, and was incarcerated. His treatment was harsh; he weighed only 42 kg when he was freed after the war.

In 1918, he became a

general councillor of the Lille-Sud-Ouest canton

.

In 1925, Salengro was elected

Member of Parliament, then re-elected in 1932 and in 1936

.

Member of Cabinet, and suicide

The 1936 legislative election brought the Popular Front to power for the first time, led by Léon Blum. Blum appointed Salengro Minister of the Interior. The new government set about implementing social reforms, and one of its first achievements was the signing of the Matignon Agreements, which was publicly announced by Salengro.

The 1930s were marked by the activities of

libelous article claiming that Salengro had not been captured by German forces in 1915 but had instead deserted. The claim was relayed by other far-right movements, and reprinted repeatedly in far-right newspapers such as Gringoire, sparking the "Salengro Affair". It was echoed in the National Assembly by far-right Members of Parliament such as Henri Becquart

. A military commission which looked into the claims refuted them categorically, but the calumny persisted. No shred of evidence was ever put forward to support the claim that Salengro's service during the war had been anything other than honourable. On 13 November, at Léon Blum's initiative, the Assembly voted to condemn the libelous campaign, by 427 votes out of 530.

During the night of 17–18 November, "exhausted and ill", Roger Salengro committed suicide at his home in Lille, where he lived alone. A million people attended his funeral on 22 November.

On 14 April 2009, France 2 broadcast a television film about the "Salengro Affair", entitled L'Affaire Salengro. Roger Salengro was played by actor Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu.

References

Jacques Rouvière, L'Affaire Salengro ou Les bas-fonds de la politique, 1982 (
ISBN 2-7144-1513-X
)

Roger Salengro's biography in brief on the website of the
French Socialist Party

External links

Newspaper clippings about Roger Salengro in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW

Authority control databases
International	FAST ISNI VIAF
National	France BnF data Germany Israel United States
People	Deutsche Biographie Sycomore
Other	IdRef