Debré, Michel Jean-Pierre (1912-1996)

French Gaullist politician and prime minister. He was minister of justice 1958, the chief author of the Fifth Republic's constitution and its first prime minister 1959-62. He accepted de Gaulle's negotiations for Algerian independence despite his own attachment to keeping Algeria French. He was later minister of finance and deputy premier 1966-68, minister for foreign affairs 1968-69, and minister of defence 1969-73 before standing for the presidency in 1981, when he was eliminated on the first ballot.

Born in Paris into a medical family, Debré graduated in law and public administration, then joined the Conseil d'Etat. Active in the Resistance and an advocate of constitutional and administrative reform, he established the Ecole Nationale d'Adminstration in 1945 to provide a unified and modernized training for a ‘fast-track’ civil service elite. Elected as a senator 1945-58, he was a vocal supporter of de Gaulle and became closely involved in preparing his return to government in 1958.