Paul Bastid

Paul Raymond Marie Bastid
Paul Bastid in 1932
Minister of Commerce
In office 4 June 1936 – 22 June 1937
Prime Minister	Léon Blum
Preceded by	Georges Bonnet
Succeeded by	Fernand Chapsal
Personal details
Born	(1892-05-17)17 May 1892 Paris 8e, France
Died	29 October 1974(1974-10-29) (aged 82) Paris 7e, France
Nationality	French
Occupation	Lawyer, professor

Paul Raymond Marie Bastid (17 May 1892 – 29 October 1974) was a French lawyer, academic and radical politician who was a national deputy from 1924 to 1942 in the French Third Republic, and from 1945 to 1951 in the French Fourth Republic. He was Minister of Commerce from 1936 to 1937. During and after World War II (1939–45) he was involved in discussions about France's position in a future European federation. He was a prolific author on subjects that ranged from law and history to fiction and poetry.

Paul Raymond Marie Bastid was born on 17 May 1892 in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. His father and his grandfather, Adrien Bastid and Raymond Bastid, were both former deputies of Cantal. His maternal grandfather, Paul Devès, was a former deputy, senator and Minister. Paul Bastid attended the École Normale Supérieure, where he passed the agrégation examinations in philosophy and law, and became a Doctor of Letters. He was made a member of the Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques and professor of the Faculty of Law of Paris. He wrote for various newspapers including La Dépêche de Toulouse and l'Ere nouvelle.

On 11 May 1924 Bastid was elected deputy for Cantal. He was secretary of the Chamber in 1925 and 1926. Bastid was extremely active in parliament, and was particularly interested in international affairs and in constitutional issues. In 1930 he was rapporteur of the General Arbitration Act. He was a member of the French delegation to the League of Nations for seven assemblies between 1926 and 1939. He was elected deputy for the constituency of Aurillac in the general elections of 22–29 April 1928. He retained that seat in the elections of 1–8 May 1932 and 26 April – 3 May 1936. In 1934 he was also elected president of the General Council of Cantal, holding that office until 1941. He chaired the Foreign Affairs committee from 1934 to 1936. He was Minister of Commerce in the cabinet of Léon Blum from 4 June 1936 to 22 June 1937.

In 1937 Bastid married Suzanne Basdevant (born 1906). Her father was Jules Basdevant, a professor of public international law in Paris. She had studied law and obtained the doctorat en droit in 1930. Her thesis won the Goullencourt Prize. They would have three daughters and a son, who died. Suzanne taught public international law at the law faculty of Lyon from 1933 to 1946, then became a professor of international law at the University of Paris and at the Institut d'études politiques de Paris (Paris Institute of Political Studies). She became a highly respected expert on international law.