Maurice Bokanowski
| Maurice Bokanowski | |
|---|---|
Bokanowski as a deputy in 1919
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| Deputy in the French Legislature | |
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In office 1914–1918 |
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| Minister of the Navy | |
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In office 29 March 1924 – 9 June 1924 |
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| Preceded by | Flaminius Raiberti |
| Succeeded by | Désiré Ferry |
| Minister of Commerce and Industry | |
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In office 23 July 1926 – 2 September 1928 |
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| Preceded by | Louis Loucheur |
| Succeeded by | Henry Chéron |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
31 August 1879 Le Havre, Seine-Maritime, France |
| Died | 2 September 1928 (aged 49) Toul, Meurthe-et-Moselle, France |
| Nationality | French |
| Occupation | Lawyer |
Maurice Bokanowski (31 August 1879 – 2 September 1928) was a French lawyer and left-wing Republican politician who served briefly as Minister of the Navy in 1924, and was Minister of Commerce and Industry in 1926–28. He rationalized tariffs and began a reorganization of aviation in France.
Maurice Bokanowski was born Moïse Bokanowski in Le Havre, Seine-Maritime on 31 August 1879. He was the sixth child of seven. His parents were Léon Bokanowski (born 1847), an ice vendor, and Julie Rasskowska (born 1848). They had married in Paris on 21 April 1868. Both his parents were Polish in origin. They wanted to move to America, and had gone to Le Havre to try to find a passage. They could not afford the cost, and soon moved to Toulon, where Moïse's father founded a novelty shop. Léon Bokanowski died in 1891 when Moïse was twelve years old. Bokanowski undertook his military service in Toulon in 1899.
Bokanowski attended the Ecole de commerce in Marseille. He then went to Paris, where he studied Law and at the same time took a course in Chinese at the National School of Modern Oriental Languages. He also studied at the free school of Political Sciences. Moïse adopted the first name "Maurice" around 1903, since a Jewish name would interfere with his planned political career. On 20 July 1903 he was initiated into the Freemason lodge L'Action of the Grand Orient de France. He would remain a Freemason throughout the war, but resigned in June 1919.
Bokanowski became an advocate in the Paris court of appeal in 1904. He submitted his thesis at the Faculty of Law of the University of Paris on 19 March 1908, on the subject of Commissions internationales d'enquête. In his thesis he argued for a Societé des Nations whose laws would govern states and ensure universal peace in the same way that individuals submit to the laws of their country. Bokanowski was a member of the General Association of Parisian Students, and a committee member of the Association of former pupils of H.E.C. He married Marguerite Wolff (born 23 April 1886 in Paris) on 14 April 1908. They would have three sons, Jean-Francois, Olivier, Michel, and one daughter, Anne.
Bokanowski competed in the legislative elections of 24 April and 8 May 1910 as a radical socialist in the third district of Saint-Denis. He lost, but ran successfully in the legislative elections of 26 April and 10 May 1914 for the fourth district of Saint-Denis after campaigning for three years military service. In the Chamber of Deputies he joined the Radical Socialist group. He was appointed to the committee of commerce and industry, and to the committee of insurance and social welfare. In the pre-war years he was also a secretary of the Republican league for electoral reform and a member of the executive council of the Peace Through Law Association.
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