Person

Léon Blum

1872–1950 · 20th century

Léon Blum was a French socialist politician and writer, the first socialist and first Jewish prime minister of France. Leading the Popular Front government from June 1936 to June 1937 and briefly in 1938, he introduced paid holidays, the 40-hour week and collective bargaining. Tried by the Vichy regime and deported by the Germans, he survived the war and headed a short caretaker government in 1946–1947.

Léon Blum
Image: Bulletin municipal de la ville de Toulouse · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 1 state history

French Third Republic

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Léon Blum. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/leon-blum
MLA
“Léon Blum.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/leon-blum. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Léon Blum.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/leon-blum.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Léon Blum’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/leon-blum (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻