Born in Le Havre, René Coty trained as a lawyer and then entered politics. He holds the positions of municipal councilor, general councilor, deputy, member of government. As a senator, he voted full powers to Marshal Pétain on July 10, 1940, but his resistance status gave him back his eligibility to leave the war.
René Coty became the second President of the Fourth Republic in 1954 (succeeding Vincent Auriol):he named Guy Mollet President of the Council. In May 1958, the war in Algeria led him to appeal to General De Gaulle, whom he instructed to form a new government. After the promulgation of the Constitution of the V th Republic by the latter in October 1958, René Coty transmitted his powers to the new president in January 1959.
Member of the Constitutional Council and elected to the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences, he died in Le Havre in 1962 following a heart attack.
1882 - 1962
Status
President of the IV th Republic (1954-1959)