Édouard Goubert
1sth Chief Minister of Pondicherry
In office
1 July 1963 (1963-07-01) – 24 August 1964 (1964-08-24)
Lieutenant Governor
Preceded byOffice Established
Succeeded byV. Venkatasubha Reddiar
ConstituencyMannadipet
Member of the 1955 Pondicherry Representative Assembly
In office
18 July 1955 – 28 October 1958
Preceded byOffice Established
Succeeded byK. Subrahmania Padayachi
ConstituencyBahour
Member of the 1955 Pondicherry Representative Assembly
In office
11 August 1959 – 30 June 1963
Preceded byThandapani Kounder
ConstituencyMannadipet
Member of 1st Puducherry Assembly
In office
1 July 1963 – 24 August 1964
Preceded byHimself
Succeeded byManickavasaga Reddiar
ConstituencyMannadipet
Member of 2nd Puducherry Assembly
In office
29 August 1964 – 19 September 1968
Preceded byA. S. Gangeyan
Succeeded byD. Kantharaj,
ConstituencyRaj Nivas
Mayor of Pondicherry
In office
1961–1963
Personal details
Born(1894-07-29)29 July 1894
Pondichéry, French India
Died14 August 1979(1979-08-14) (aged 85)
Bangalore, Karnataka, India
Nationality
Political partyIndian National Congress
Other political
affiliations

Édouard Goubert (29 July 1894 – 14 August 1979) was mayor and first chief minister of Pondicherry 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.[1][2][3] He and Lambert Saravane founded the French India Socialist Party in July 1947.[4]

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.[5][6] He received his education in French Indochina and studied Law in France.[6] 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.[7]

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.[8]

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.[6] 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.[7]

Statue of Edouard Goubert in Puducherry

Death

Edouard Goubert died in Bangalore, Karnataka on 14 August 1979.[7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 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, extended his support to the Goubert faction."
  2. ↑ 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 "
  3. ↑ 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.."
  4. ↑ Markovits, Claude, ed. (2002) [First published 1994 as Histoire de l'Inde Moderne]. A History of Modern India, 1480–1950. London: Anthem Press. p. 518. ISBN 978-1-84331-004-4.
  5. ↑ Varma, M. Dinesh (30 July 2014). "Edouard Goubert who holds a fascination for Francophiles in Puducherry". The Hindu. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  6. 1 2 3 Mansingh, Surjit (9 May 2006). Historical Dictionary of India. Scarecrow Press. p. 248. ISBN 9780810865020. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  7. 1 2 3 Nationale, Assemblée. "Edouard Goubert". assemblee-nationale.fr. Archived from the original on 5 May 2010.
  8. ↑ Jessica Namakkal, Unsettling Utopia: The Making and Unmaking of French India (Columbia University Press, 2021)
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