Topic: Georges Benjamin

Georges Benjamin Clemenceau (28 September 1841 – 24 November 1929) was a French statesman, physician, and journalist. He served as the prime minister of France from 1906-1909 and 1917-1920. For nearly the final year of World War I he led France, and was one of the major voices behind the Treaty of Versailles. He is commonly nicknamed "le Tigre" (the Tiger) and "le Père-la-Victoire" (Father Victory) for his determination as a wartime leader.

Clemenceau was born at Mouilleron-en-Pareds, Vendée, France. In Revolutionary times the Vendée had been a hotbed of monarchist sympathies but now it was fiercely republican. This town would also be famous as the birthplace of another famous politico-military figure in Frence history: Jean de Lattre de Tassigny.

Clemenceau's mother was from a Huguenot family. His father Benjamin was the village physician who hoped that his son would follow in his footsteps. A fervent republican, the elder Clemenceau fought in 1830 in the revolt against Charles X and later against Louis Phillippe. Arrested on the orders of Emperor Napoleon III after his attempted assassination by Felice Orsini, Clemenceau had been sentenced to exile in Algeria but was set free in Marseilles before the deportation order was carried out.