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(1862-1932)

Cofounder of the French Socialist Party (1901) along with Jean Jaurès, he refused the Marxist pressure of the Internationale. He was elected to the Chamber of Deputies from 1902 until his death.

Aristide Briand, who held a total of 26 ministerial posts and served 11 times as president of the Council, was one of the writers on the law of separation of church and state in 1905. He moved towards reconciliation with Germany after the war.

As a committed pacifist, he initiated the Briand-Kellog Pact renouncing war, signed by 60 nations in 1928.

Architect of the Locarno Pact (settling Germany’s wersten frontier) and Nobel Peace Prize holder (1926), he worked actively within the League of Nations for disarmament.

Committed to achieving stability in Europe, he even drafted a memorandum on the creation of the European Union and was considered a precursor of the European idea.