Gustave Jules René Coty (20 March 1882 – 22 November 1962) was President of France from 1954 to 1959. He was the second and last president of the Fourth French Republic.
French jurist and politician René Coty was born on March 20, 1882. (Died: 22 November 1962)
He studied philosophy and law at the University of Caen and graduated in 1902.
He started working as a lawyer specializing in Maritime and Commercial Law.
In 1905, with his friends, he founded Cercle Vallonges, a literary society interested in books. In 1910 he defended trade unionist Jules Durand, who was falsely accused of inciting the murder of a non-striking worker.
He entered politics as a member of the Radical Socialist Party and was elected as a district council member in 1907.
The following year he took an active role as a member of the Republican Left group. When World War I began, he volunteered for the army and joined the 129th Infantry Regiment.
He was elected to the House of Representatives in 1923. He sided with the Left Republicans in parliament and supported the democratic alliance, being particularly interested in issues of merchant shipping and government reform.
In 1930, he served as undersecretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and served as Undersecretary of State for Internal Affairs.
He served as Minister of Construction and Urbanization in the government formed by Robert Schumann.
He served as a member of the Constituent National Assembly of the Fourth Republic from 1944 to 1946 and was Vice President of the Senate from 1945 until he was elected President.
He was elected as a member of the Council of the Republic in 1948. At the end of the 13th round of voting in 1953, he was elected to the presidential office vacated by Vincent Auriol on January 6, 1954, and made his name among the jurist presidents of France.
On January 8, 1959, he was replaced by de Charles de Gaulle, the first president of the Fifth Republic.