Léon Blum (1872–1950)

Léon Blum (1872–1950) was a French socialist politician and writer who led the French Section of the Workers’ International (SFIO). A prominent figure of the interwar left, he became head of the Popular Front coalition and served as Prime Minister of France in 1936–1937, again briefly in 1938, and later in 1946–1947. Blum was France’s first Jewish prime minister. During the Second World War he was arrested by the Vichy regime and tried at the Riom Trial, then deported to Buchenwald. After the Liberation, he returned to public life and remained influential in French socialism.