---
category: "Nuclear Scientists & Programs"
tags:
  - Person
  - Nuclear
  - Israel
summary: "Pierre Mendès-France was a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 1954 to 1955."
born: 1907-01-11
died: 1982-10-18
location: "Paris, France"
---

Pierre Mendès-France was a French politician who served as Prime Minister of [[France]] from 1954 to 1955. In late 1954, his coalition government granted authority for a nuclear weapons planning group to be formed inside the French Atomic Energy Commission, bringing senior officials of the ministry of defense into nuclear planning for the first time.[^1]

### Footnotes

[^1]: Hersh, Seymour M. *The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy*. Random House, 1991. Chapter 3.