Joseph Athanase Gaston Paul Doumer, commonly known as Paul Doumer (French pronunciation: ​[pɔl dume]; 22 March 1857 – 7 May 1932) was the President of France from 13 June 1931 until his assassination.

Biography

He was born in Aurillac, in the Cantal département, in France on 22 March 1857. Alumnus of the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers. He became a professor of mathematics at Mende in 1877.

In 1878 he married Blanche Richel, whom he had met at college. They had eight children, five who were killed in the war.

From 1879 until 1883 he was professor at Remiremont, before leaving on health grounds. He then became chief editor of Courrier de l'Aisne, a French regional newspaper.

He entered politics in 1888, and was briefly Minister of Finance of France (1895-1896).

He was Governor-General of French Indochina from 1897 to 1902. After returning from French Indochina, Doumer served as President of the Chamber of Deputies (a post equivalent to the speaker of parliament) from 1902 to 1905.

The Long Bien Bridge was built during his term as Governor-General and was named for him. It became a well-known landmark and target for US pilots during the Vietnam War.

He became Minister of Finance of France again in 1925 when Louis Loucheur resigned.

He was elected President of the French Republic on 13 May 1931, defeating the better known Aristide Briand, and replacing Gaston Doumergue.

Assassination

On 6 May 1932, Paul Doumer was in Paris at the opening of a book fair at the Hôtel Salomon de Rothschild, talking to the author Claude Farrère. Suddenly several shots were fired by Paul Gorguloff, a mentally unstable Russian émigré, who was also present. Two of the shots hit Doumer, at the base of the skull and in the right armpit, and he fell to the ground. Claude Farrère wrestled with the assassin before the police arrived. Doumer was rushed to hospital in Paris, where he died at 04:37 a.m. on 7 May. He was the only French president to die of a gunshot wound.