Alain Poher

Alain Poher
Poher in 1969
President of France
Acting
In office 2 April 1974 – 27 May 1974
Prime Minister	Pierre Messmer
Preceded by	Georges Pompidou
Succeeded by	Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
In office 28 April 1969 – 20 June 1969
Prime Minister	Maurice Couve de Murville
Preceded by	Charles de Gaulle
Succeeded by	Georges Pompidou
President of the Senate
In office 3 October 1968 – 1 October 1992
Preceded by	Gaston Monnerville
Succeeded by	René Monory
President of the European Parliament
In office 7 March 1966 – 11 March 1969
Preceded by	Victor Leemans
Succeeded by	Mario Scelba
Senator
In office 18 May 1952 – 1 October 1995
Constituency	Seine-et-Oise (1952–1968) Val-de-Marne (1968–1995)
In office 8 December 1946 – 7 November 1948
Constituency	Seine-et-Oise
Mayor of Ablon-sur-Seine
In office 18 May 1945 – March 1983
Preceded by	Édouard Désiré Juvigny
Succeeded by	Jean-Pierre Hermellin
Personal details
Born	Alain Émile Louis Marie Poher (1909-04-17)17 April 1909 Ablon-sur-Seine, France
Died	9 December 1996(1996-12-09) (aged 87) 16th arrondissement of Paris, France
Political party	Popular Republican Movement (1946–1966) Democratic Centre (1966–1976) Centre of Social Democrats (1976–1995) Democratic Force (1995–1996)
Other political affiliations	Union for French Democracy (1978–1996)
Spouse	Henriette Tugler
Children	2
Alma mater	Mines ParisTech Sciences Po
Occupation	Engineer, civil servant
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Alain Émile Louis Marie Poher (French: [alɛ̃ pɔɛʁ]; 17 April 1909 – 9 December 1996) was a French politician who served as President of the Senate from 1968 to 1992. Under this capacity, he was twice briefly acting President of France, in 1969 and 1974 following the resignation of Charles de Gaulle and the death of Georges Pompidou respectively. Poher was affiliated with the Popular Republican Movement (MRP) until 1966 and later with the Democratic Centre (CD) and Centre of Social Democrats (CSD), which he joined in 1976.

A native of Ablon-sur-Seine south of Paris, Poher was a longtime member of the Senate (1946–1948; 1952–1995), where he sat first for Seine-et-Oise until 1968 and then Val-de-Marne. He also served as President of the European Parliament from 1966 to 1969. As the longest-serving President of the Senate and the sole unelected President of France under the Fifth Republic, Poher remained an influential figure in 20th-century French politics. He ran in the 1969 presidential election, but was defeated by Pompidou in the second round.

Poher died at the age of 87 in December 1996, a year after his retirement from the Senate.^[1]