Background
Alain Peyrefitte was born on August 26, 1925, in Najac, France. He was a son of schoolteachers in the Aveyron department.
45 Rue d'Ulm, 75005 Paris, France
The École normale supérieure where Alain Peyrefitte studied.
1 Rue Sainte-Marguerite, 67080 Strasbourg, France
The École nationale d'administration where Alain Peyrefitte studied.
75005 Paris, France
Paris-Sorbonne University where Alain Peyrefitte received a Doctor of Philosophy degree.
The Order of the Legion of Honor that Alain Peyrefitte received.
The Order of Arts and Letters that Alain Peyrefitte received on September 17, 1974.
The Order of Academic Palms that Alain Peyrefitte received.
Alain Peyrefitte in 1962.
Alain Peyrefitte Announcing De Gaulle Campaigning For The Presidential Elections 1965.
French Prime Minister Georges Pompidou and Alain Peyrefitte, Minister of Scientific Research and Atomic, visit Pierrelatte nuclear plant in Pierrelatte, France, on October 22, 1966.
Alain Peyrefitte on April 18, 1968.
Congress of UDR: Maurice Couve de Murville, Jacques Chaban Delmas, Valery Giscard d'Estaing, Pierre Messmer, Alain Peyrefitte, Michel Debre, Raymond Marcellin in Provins, France in January, 1973.
Alain Peyrefitte in Beijing, China, 1980.
The writer Alain Peyrefitte is photographed for Paris Match autographing his book Quand la Chine s'eveillera at his home in Paris on July 10, 1974.
Alain Peyrefitte on March 10, 1988 in Paris, France.
The Cabinet of Ministers of the Government on August 27, 1980.
(In 1793, Lord George Macartney and an enormous delegatio ...)
In 1793, Lord George Macartney and an enormous delegatio – including diplomats, doctors, scholars, painters, musicians, soldiers, and aristocrats – entered Beijing on a mission to open China to British trade. But Macartney’s famous refusal to perform the traditional kowtow before the Chinese Emperor was just one sign that the two empires would not see eye to eye, and the trade talks failed. The inability to develop a trade relation would have enormous consequences for future relations between China and the West. Peyrefitte’s vivid narrative of this fascinating encounter is based on extraordinary source materials from each side – including the charming and candid diary of Thomas Staunton, the son of one of Macartney’s aides.
https://www.amazon.com/Immobile-Empire-Alain-Peyrefitte/dp/0345803957/?tag=2022091-20
1989
Alain Peyrefitte was born on August 26, 1925, in Najac, France. He was a son of schoolteachers in the Aveyron department.
Alain Peyrefitte studied at the lyceums of Rodez and Montpellier. After graduating from the faculties of law and literature at Montepellier he applied to the École normale supérieure. In 1946, Peyrefitte joined the newly created National School of Administration. Alain Peyrefitte also studied at Paris-Sorbonne University where he received a Doctor of Philosophy degree.
Alain Peyrefitte started his career as Secretary of Foreign Affairs in 1947 in Germany under the leadership of Andre Francois-Poncet, High Commissioner of the French occupation zone in Germany. Later he returned to Paris and in 1954 took up a post of Consul General in Krakow, Poland. In 1962 he became Secretary of State to the Prime Minister and soon became Minister for Information. In this post, he worked on the modernization and liberalization of public service broadcasting, including the development of regional television channels and the creation of the broadcasting and telecommunications service – Office de radiodiffusion-télévision française. He held this post until 1966.
When Peyrefitte left the post of Minister for Information he became Minister for Scientific Research and Atomic Questions. In this position, he worked on the commercial program for the development of the analog color television system SECAM. In 1967, Peyrefitte started to work as Minister of Education, but he was forced to resign under the influence of unrest among students in 1968. After that, he became Minister of Administrative Reform and Planning. He also worked as Minister of Culture and the Environment. From 1977 to 1981 Alain Peyrefitte worked as Minister of Justice. After the victory of the right-wing forces in parliamentary elections in 1986, Peyrefitte did not join the government, remaining politically active at the regional and local levels.
Alain Peyrefitte wrote his first book Rue d'Ulm, chroniques de la vie normalienne in 1946. Later he published such books as Les Roseaux froisses, Le Mythe de Penelope, Reponses a la violence. He wrote an important article on China in Le Monde, and followed this with the highly successful book Quand la Chine s'eveillera, le monde tremblera (When China Wakes Up, The World Will Tremble, 1973), which ran to several editions and was followed by other books on China. In 1983 he became chairman of the editorial board for Le Figaro, a conservative daily paper in France. In 1993-1994, he gave a series of lectures at the College de France entitled "Economic Miracle".
(In 1793, Lord George Macartney and an enormous delegatio ...)
1989Alain Peyrefitte converted to catholicism at the age of 18. He lived in a Dominican monastery in the commune of Corbara in Corsica within one year.
Alain Peyrefitte was a member of the Union for the New Republic party from 1958 to 1967. In 1967 he became a member of the Union for the Defence of the Republic party. In 1976, Peyrefitte left the Union for the Defence of the Republic party and became a member of Rally for the Republic party.
During 1970s Peyrefitte was unpopular as he refused to follow Jacques Chirac in his opposition to Giscard d'Estaing. Besides, he was a hard minister, who maintained the death penalty and favoured heavy prison sentences. At the end of Valerie Giscard d’Estena’s mandate, he initiates the adoption of the Law on Enhancing Security and the Protection of Freedom of Citizens (1981), which expanded the powers of the police and the prosecutor’s office and limited the discretion of a judge. This document provoked indignation of the left opposition.
Alain Peyrefitte was a member of the French Academy and Academy of Moral and Political Sciences.
Alain Peyrefitte married Monique Luton in 1948. The marriage produced three children.