Born in Paimpol, Brittany, to a policeman father and a peasant mother, he studied philosophy in Bordeaux. He joined the French Labor Party of Jules Guesde in 1892. At the age of 31, he became a municipal councilor in Bordeaux:his political career began. Very popular, he replaced Jules Guesde, then ill, as party leader, and in 1905 participated in the creation of the SFIO with Jean Jaurès.
Elected deputy for Paris in 1914, he was one of the socialists who joined the policy of national unity (called Sacred Union), favorable to the war effort. In 1917, he was sent by the government with a delegation to newly Soviet Russia.
He became director of the newspaper L'Humanité (founded by Jean Jaurès) in 1918, and remained so until his death. In 1920, after a second trip to Russia, he was convinced that the Socialist Party had to be transformed into a Communist Party. During the Congress of Tour, he is part of the communist majority which leaves the SFIO:the French Communist Party is then created. An important member of the PCF in France until his death, he was elected senator in 1935 (he would defend the constitution of the Popular Front), and again a deputy in 1946.
1869 - 1958
Status
Politician
Journalist