Édouard Goubert

2021-12-01T02:40:17Z

70.244.45.170: /* Early life and career */

{{short description|Indian politician (1894–1979)}}
{{Use Indian English|date=November 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2013}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Édouard Goubert
| native_name = 
| native_name_lang = fr
| image = Edouard Goubert.jpg
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| caption = Edouard Goubert.
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| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1894|07|29}}
| birth_place = [[Pondicherry|Pondichéry]], [[French India]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1979|08|14|1894|07|29}}
| death_place = Asho, [[Karnataka]], India
| resting_place =
| resting_place_coordinates =
| citizenship =
| nationality = {{ubl|[[France|French]] {{small|(to 1954)}} |[[India|Indian]] {{small|(onward 1954)}}
}}
| party = [[Indian National Congress]]
| otherparty = {{ubl| [[National Democratic Front (French India)|National Democratic Front]] {{small|(1946- 1947)}} |[[French India Socialist Party]] {{small|(1947- 1954)}}
}}
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| office = 1sth [[Chief Minister of Puducherry]]
| term_start = {{Start date|1963|07|01|df=yes}}
| term_end = {{End date|1964|08|24|df=yes}}
| lieutenant_governor = {{ubl|Sisir Kumar Dutta|K.J. Somasundaram|[[S.L. Silam]]}}
| predecessor = ''Office Established''
| successor = [[V. Venkatasubha Reddiar]]
| constituency = [[Mannadipet (Union Territory Assembly constituency)|Mannadipet]]
| office2 = [[1955 Pondicherry Representative Assembly election|Member of the 1955 Pondicherry Representative Assembly]]
| term_start2 = 18 July 1955
| term_end2 = 28 October 1958
| constituency2 = Bahour
| predecessor2 = ''Office Established''
| successor2 = K. Subrahmania Padayachi
| office3 = [[2nd Pondicherry Representative Assembly|Member of the 1955 Pondicherry Representative Assembly]]
| term_start3 = 11 August 1959
| term_end3 = 30 June 1963
| constituency3 = Mannadipet
| predecessor3 = Thandapani Kounder
| successor3 =
| office4 = [[1st Puducherry Assembly|Member of 1st Puducherry Assembly]]
| term_start4 = 1 July 1963
| term_end4 = 24 August 1964
| constituency4 = Mannadipet
| predecessor4 = Himself
| successor4 = Manickavasaga Reddiar
| office5 = [[2nd Puducherry Assembly|Member of 2nd Puducherry Assembly]]
| term_start5 = 29 August 1964
| term_end5 = 19 September 1968
| constituency5 = [[Raj Bhavan (Union Territory Assembly constituency)|Raj Nivas]]
| predecessor5 = A. S. Gangeyan
| successor5 = D. Kantharaj,
| office6 = [[Pondicherry Municipal Council|Mayor of Pondicherry]]
| term_start6 = 1961
| term_end6 = 1963
}}

'''Édouard Goubert''' (29 July 1894 – 14 August 1979) was former mayor and first [[List of Chief Ministers of Puducherry|chief minister]] of [[Puducherry (union territory)|Puducherry]] between 1 July 1963 and 11 September 1964. Initially a strongly [[pro-French]] leader, he later shifted towards the pro-merger [[Indian National Congress]], which ultimately became the death knell for the sovereignty of France's ''comptoirs'' (trading posts) in [[India]].<ref>''Criminal Justice India Series'' Volume 20 – Page 16 D. Banerjea – 2002 -"The other group consisting of E. Goubert, Deivassigamany and Sivasoupiramaniapoulle insisted on holding the Elections as scheduled on 24 ... Mouttoupoulle, who was then Mayor of [[Pondicherry (city)|Pondicherry]], extended his support to the Goubert faction."</ref><ref>Kate Marsh ''Fictions of 1947: representations of Indian decolonization 1919–1962'' Page 37 2007 – "Goubert's corruption was legendary, and he profited greatly from the trafficking of contraband goods, the sale of which "</ref><ref>Les dernières années de l'Inde française – Page 241 Michel Gaudart de Soulages, Philippe Randa – 2005 "Après ce retournement, Édouard Goubert et ses partisans se refugient dans l'Union Indienne : « Les mesures prises à son égard ont obligé M. Goubert à quitter précipitemment Pondichéry et à se réfugier, en compagnie du maire, de l'autre.."</ref> He and [[Lambert Saravane]] founded the [[French India Socialist Party]] in july 1947.<ref name="Markovits2002">{{cite book |date=2002 |orig-year=First published 1994 as ''Histoire de l'Inde Moderne'' |editor-first=Claude |editor-last=Markovits |title=A History of Modern India, 1480–1950 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uzOmy2y0Zh4C&pg=PA518 |location=London |publisher=Anthem Press |page=518 |isbn=978-1-84331-004-4}}</ref>

Goubert was popularly known as ''pappa Goubert''.

==Early life and career==
Goubert was born in Pondicherry on 29 July 1894 to a French father and Franco-Indian mother.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Varma|first1=M. Dinesh|title=Edouard Goubert who holds a fascination for Francophiles in Puducherry|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/puducherry/edouard-goubert-who-holds-a-fascination-for-francophiles-in-puducherry/article6263322.ece|website=The Hindu|access-date=3 November 2016|language=en-IN|date=30 July 2014}}</ref><ref name="Mansingh">{{cite book|last1=Mansingh|first1=Surjit|title=Historical Dictionary of India|date=9 May 2006|publisher=Scarecrow Press|page=248|isbn=9780810865020|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6HAeAgAAQBAJ|access-date=3 November 2016}}</ref> He received his education in French Indochina and studied Law in France.<ref name="Mansingh"/> He began his career in the colonial administration and worked as a clerk at the Pondicherry Court. In 1951, he ran as a candidate of the [[Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance]] for the seat of French India in the French National Assembly (Assemblée Nationale). Goubert won the election with an overwhelming majority of 99.3% of the vote.<ref name="NationalAssembly">{{cite web|last1=Nationale|first1=Assemblée|title=Edouard Goubert|url=http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/histoire/biographies/IVRepublique/goubert-edouard-29071894.asp|website=assemblee-nationale.fr|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100505031850/http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/histoire/biographies/IVRepublique/goubert-edouard-29071894.asp|archive-date=5 May 2010}}</ref>
[[File:Goubert_avenue.jpg|thumb|left|Goubert Avenue in Puducherry]]
A referendum on the future of French India was held in Chandernagore, the territory right outside of Calcutta, on 19 June 1949. Out of 12,184 registered voters (drawn from a population of 44,500), 7,473 voted for merger with India while only 114 votes were cast in favor of inclusion in the French Union. While a similar referendum was supposed to be held in the remaining four territories, those referendums never took place.<ref>Jessica Namakkal, Unsettling Utopia: The Making and Unmaking of French India (Columbia University Press, 2021) </ref>

Initially, Goubert attempted to negotiate a special status for French India that would make it autonomous from both France and India. However, neither the French nor Indian governments agreed to the demand.<ref name="Mansingh"/> By 1954, Goubert shifted his loyalty towards the pro-India faction and supported the annexation of French possessions to the Indian Union. In March 1954, he traveled to Pondicherry and took part in an agitation demanding the merger of French India with the Indian Union. On 29 June 1954, his parliamentary immunity was abolished. On 1 November 1954, France signed treaties transferring sovereignty of French possessions to India, ending Goubert's tenure in the French National Assembly.<ref name="NationalAssembly"/>
[[File:Puducherry Edouard Goubert-statue.JPG|thumb|left|Statue of Edouard Goubert in Puducherry]]

==Death==
Edouard Goubert died in Asho{{vn|date=May 2019}} in [[Bangalore district]], Karnataka on 14 August 1979.<ref name="NationalAssembly"/>

==See also==
* [[Coup d'état of Yanaon]]
* [[Puducherry Legislative Assembly]]
* [[Municipal administration in French India]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Édouard Goubert}}
* [http://www2.assemblee-nationale.fr/sycomore/fiche/(num_dept)/3490 Édouard Goubert biography – French National Assembly]

{{Chief ministers of Puducherry}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goubert, Edouard}}
[[Category:1894 births]]
[[Category:1979 deaths]]
[[Category:Puducherry politicians]]
[[Category:Indian people of French descent]]
[[Category:People of French India]]
[[Category:Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance politicians]]
[[Category:Indian National Congress politicians from Puducherry]]
[[Category:Deputies of the 2nd National Assembly of the French Fourth Republic]]
[[Category:Chief ministers from Indian National Congress]]
[[Category:Chief ministers of Puducherry]]

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Édouard Goubert