STERN, JACQUES

STERN, JACQUES (1881–1949), French politician. Born in Paris, Stern became private secretary to Leon Bourgeois when the latter was minister of foreign affairs and was elected to the National Assembly in 1914. He established himself as an authority on financial affairs and devised a plan for a supranational organization to solve the problem of reparations and inter-allied debts after World War I. His scheme was frustrated largely because of the frequent change of government in France. Stern held office in several French governments as minister for the merchant marine (1930 and 1933) and minister for the colonies (1935–39). He immigrated to the United States in 1942 where he published Les Colonies françaises, passé et avenir (1943). He later committed suicide. (Shulamith Catane)