10 Facts About Camille Chautemps

Camille Chautemps was the father-in-law of US politician and statesman Howard J Samuels.

Camille Chautemps was inducted into the Grand Orient of France, quitting the Freemasons in August 1940 as anti-masonic regulation was adopted by Petain.

Camille Chautemps first became President of the Council for a short-lived government in 1930.

Camille Chautemps resigned his posts on 27 January 1934, when the opposition press attributed Stavisky's suicide to a government cover-up.

In Leon Blum's Popular Front government of 1936, Camille Chautemps represented the Radical-Socialist Party as a Minister of State and succeeded Blum at the head of the government from June 1937 to March 1938.

Camille Chautemps's government repealed Article 213 of the code: "the husband owes protection to his wife, the wife obedience to the husband".

Camille Chautemps subsequently served from April 1938 to May 1940 as Deputy Prime Minister in the governments of Edouard Daladier and Paul Reynaud.

Camille Chautemps now suggested that to break the deadlock, that they should get a neutral authority to enquire what the German terms would be, which if honourable, the Cabinet could agree to study.

On 10 July 1940, Camille Chautemps voted as a Senator in favour of granting the cabinet presided by Marshal Philippe Petain authority to draw up a new constitution, thereby effectively ending the French Third Republic and establishing Vichy France.

However, Camille Chautemps broke with Petain's government after he had arrived in the United States on an official mission and lived there for much of the rest of his life.