The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07.
Coty, René
(rn´ kôt´) (KEY) , 1882–1962, French president (1954–59). From 1923 to 1940 he served in the legislature, first as a deputy and then as a senator. In 1940, when France fell to the Germans, he voted to hand all power to Marshal Pétain. After a wartime spent in retirement, Coty returned to the legislature and in Dec., 1953, was elected president as a compromise candidate. In the crisis over Algeria in May, 1958, he threatened resignation if Charles de Gaulle were not made premier; he left office with the creation (1959) of the Fifth Republic.
n
´ kôt
´) (KEY) , 1882–1962, French president (1954–59). From 1923 to 1940 he served in the legislature, first as a deputy and then as a senator. In 1940, when France fell to the Germans, he voted to hand all power to Marshal Pétain. After a wartime spent in retirement, Coty returned to the legislature and in Dec., 1953, was elected president as a compromise candidate. In the crisis over Algeria in May, 1958, he threatened resignation if Charles de Gaulle were not made premier; he left office with the creation (1959) of the Fifth Republic.
