Doumer, Paul
(1857–1932), governor-general of Indochina. Paul Doumer was governor-general of French Indochina from 1897 to 1902. Born in Aurillac, France, Doumer worked as a journalist before embarking on a political career. He was first elected to the French National Assembly in 1888 and served as minister of finance (1895–1896) just before his appointment as governor-general of Indochina.
During his five-year mandate in Indochina, Doumer instituted a number of reforms. He created a general budget for Indochina and established monopolies on salt, opium, and alcohol to finance colonial development projects. He promoted the construction of a railway line from Saigon to Yunnan (the Yunnan Railway project), and sanctioned public works projects, such as the building of roads, bridges, canals, and communications lines. Doumer also systematized the colonial civil service by creating departments of public works, customs, and agriculture and commerce. In 1898 he founded the Ecole Française D'extrême Orient, whose purpose was the study of East Asia.
Doumer returned to France in 1902 and was elected senator of Corsica (1912–1931). He eventually was elected president of France in 1931 but was assassinated one year later by a Russian immigrant who accused him of siding with Bolsheviks.
Further Reading
Bouche, Denise. (1991). Histoire de la colonisation française. Paris: Fayard.
Meyer, Jean, Jean Tarrade, Annie Rex-Goldzeiguer, and Jacques Tholie. (1991) L'Histoire de la France coloniale des origines à 1914. Paris: Armand Colin.
This is the complete article, containing 224 words
(approx. 1 page at 300 words per page).
