9 avril 1872
30 mars 1950
Après des études à l’École normale supérieure et à la faculté de droit, Léon Blum (1872-1950) est nommé auditeur au Conseil d'État en décembre 1895, il y fait une brillante carrière de près de 25 ans. Mais durant la première partie de sa vie, c'est comme écrivain que Léon Blum souhaite être reconnu. Aussi, parallèlement à sa profession de haut magistrat au Conseil d’État, il consacre l'essentiel de son activité à l'écriture. Il est critique littéraire à la revue Le Banquet et à la Revue Blanche. Il se bat même en duel à l'épée le 14 octobre 1912 pour une critique avec Pierre Veber, l'auteur de Une Loge pour Faust. Léon Blum se lance réellement en politique durant l'affaire Dreyfus de 1894 à 1906. Il participe aux côtés de Jaurès aux luttes qui entourent l’unification du parti socialiste et à la création de L’Humanité (1904). En 1905, il adhère à la Section française de l'Internationale ouvrière (SFIO).
En août 1914 Léon Blum devient chef de cabinet du socialiste Marcel Sembat, ministre du Ravitaillement, après avoir été réformé pour cause de myopie. Il quitte le cabinet avec la démission de Sembat en décembre 1916 et retourne travailler au Conseil d'État. Tout en restant à la SFIO, Blum ne cesse pas de soutenir l'effort de guerre et la politique de l'Union sacrée et s'oppose aux pacifistes.
En 1919 Blum est élu pour la première fois député de la Seine (il sera député de la Seine de 1919 à 1928 et de l'Aude, de 1928 à 1940) ; il démissionne alors du Conseil d'État. Il devient ensuite secrétaire, puis président du groupe parlementaire socialiste et s’affirme comme le chef du parti SFIO ; son intervention au Congrès de Tours de 1920 fait de lui le leader incontesté des réfractaires au communisme.
Sympathisant du sionisme, Léon Blum créé en 1928 le « Comité socialiste pour la Palestine ». En 1929, il entre à l'Agence juive pour la Palestine, comme représentant de la gauche non-sioniste
Le 13 février 1936, Léon Blum, accompagné du député Georges Monnet et de son épouse, est physiquement agressé boulevard Saint-Germain par des membres de l'Action française et des Camelots du roi. Directeur du journal Le Populaire, il arrive au pouvoir à la tête de la coalition des partis de gauche en juin 1936. Devenu chef de gouvernement, il négocie les accords de Matignon avec le patronat, accordant des congés payés aux travailleurs (8 juin 1936). Dans la guerre d'Espagne, Blum décide de ne pas intervenir aux côtés du régime républicain menacé, afin de préserver les acquis du Front populaire. Voulant résoudre la crise économique par les pleins pouvoirs financiers, il se heurte à l’opposition du Sénat et démissionne en juin 1937. Vice-président du Conseil dans le troisième cabinet Chautemps (juin 1937-janvier 1938), il retrouve la tête du gouvernement en mars 1938. Il réagit à l’Anschluss et envisage d’envahir l’Espagne après la victoire de Franco. Mis en minorité par le Sénat sur son nouveau projet financier, il doit se retirer en avril de la même année.
En juillet 1940, Blum est l’un des quatre-vingts parlementaires qui refusent d’accepter le gouvernement de Vichy. Arrêté le 15 septembre 1940, il est interné en France au château de Chazeron, puis à Bourassol, puis traduit en justice devant la cour de Riom. Il est ensuite transféré au fort du Portalet, puis au camp de concentration nazi de Buchenwald le 31 mars 1943, hors de l'enceinte du camp, avec d'autres personnalités politiques, notamment Georges Mandel. Durant sa détention, Léon Blum se marie avec Jeanne Levylier (1899-1982), qui l'y a rejoint volontairement et entretient une importante correspondance. Il commence à écrire un ouvrage de réflexions qu'il termine en décembre 1944 et qui sera publié après la guerre sous le titre À l'échelle humaine.
Libéré en avril 1945, Léon Blum reprend ses articles quotidiens dans le journal Le Populaire. Il est le chef de la délégation française, puis le président de la conférence constitutive de l'UNESCO, après avoir négocié l'annulation des dettes de guerre de la France auprès des États-Unis (accords Blum-Byrnes de mai 1946). Malgré un bref retour au gouvernement en 1946-1948 (président du gouvernement provisoire de la République française et ministre des Affaires étrangères en décembre 1946-janvier 1947 puis vice-président du conseil des ministres en juillet-septembre 1948), Léon Blum passe les dernières années de sa vie dans une semi-retraite dans sa maison de Jouy-en-Josas près de Versailles.
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