Anatole de Monzie

A nurse mishap resulted in an accident where the infant Anatole lost the proper use of his leg and he remained crippled for the rest of his life.

At about the same time, he started a career as a local politician in the Lot, a forlorn and backwater, yet charming, department in the south west of France.

Soon commanding a huge following among the local voters, pleased by his culture, his easy access to government and proficiency in handing out public sector jobs, he made of the Lot a lifelong stronghold.

Member of a small centrist faction, called Républicains Socialistes, he soon cut a fine figure in the Chambre des Députés because of its abilities and its central positioning.

He was deeply involved in diplomatic affairs, starting a campaign for a renewal of the relations with the Holy See followed, in 1922, by a plea for the acknowledgment of the Soviet Union.

A stalwart pacifist, he was indeed actively promoting a Latin alliance between France and Italy who would mediate between Hitler and the Allies.

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