Charles François Laurent (12 November 1856 – 16 February 1939) was a French senior civil servant, specializing in finance. He was president of the Cour des comptes (Court of Audit). After taking early retirement at the age of 53 he became a businessman. He became a member of the board of the Suez Canal Company and president of the French branch of Thomson-Houston. Laurent was co-founder of the Crédit National. After World War I (1914–18) he was French ambassador in Berlin between 1920 and 1922 and was involved in discussions of reparations.
Early years (1856–77)
Charles François Laurent was born in Paris on 12 November 1856. His parents were Pierre Charles Laurent, a merchant, and Narcisse Decaux. He studied at the Lycée Louis-le-Grand and the École Polytechnique (1875). He was a second lieutenant at the School of Artillery in 1877.
Civil service (1877–1909)
Laurent was a supernumerary at the Central Administration of Finance, then a clerk in the Posts and Telegraphs in 1878. In 1879 he was made an assistant to the General Inspectorate of Finance. He went to French Indochina in 1886 as Inspector of Finances with Paul Bert, who had been appointed Resident General of the French Republic in Annam and Tonkin. After Bert's death in November 1886 Charles Laurent was listed among the subscribers in Tonkin to a fund to erect a statue in Bert's honour. Laurent was named chief of staff to the Minister of Finance, Paul Peytral, in 1888. He was appointed Deputy Head of the General Inspectorate of Finance in 1890.
On 24 June 1891 Laurent married Sophie Augustine de Bénazé (1865–1945). Their children were Pierre Charles Théodore Laurent (1892-1935), Jean Charles Léon Laurent, Captain of the infantry (1894-1916) and Jacques Laurent (1896-1989). Laurent became Chief of Staff to the Minister of Finance in 1893. He was Director of the Central Teller of the Public Treasury (1894), Director General of Public Accounts (1895), Inspector of Finance (1897), Councilor of State in Extraordinary Service (1898), Secretary General of the Ministry of Finance (1898), Director General of Public Accounting (1899), first President of the Court of Auditors (1907), financial adviser to the Ottoman Government (1908). Charles Laurent retired in 1909 at the age of 53, having already occupied the most senior posts in the administration.
Business leader (1909–20)
After leaving the civil service Laurent began a new career as a company director, first at the Suez Canal Company, then at the Compagnie du chemin de fer de Paris à Orléans. He became president of the Compagnie Francaise Thomson-Houston, a manufacturer of electrical equipment, in 1915. Although Laurent had no prior relationship with the electrical industry, he was valued for his contacts and understanding of the administrative machinery, important to a company for whom the state was the most important customer.
Laurent succeeded Florent Guillain (1844–1915) as president of the Comité des forges de France (CFF). Robert Pinot continued to serve as secretary general of the CFF under Laurent, as he did under Laurent's successor Gabriel Cordier. Laurent represented the Mechanical and Electrical Construction group of industries in the Union des industries et métiers de la métallurgie (UIMM). He became president of the UIMM in 1916. While president of the CFF Laurent joined the Confédération générale de la production française (CGPF). He left the presidency of the CFF and UIMM in 1920 when he was appointed ambassador to Berlin.
The Crédit national was founded under a law of 10 October 1919 with a capital of 100 million francs, and played an important role in providing medium and long term credit in France. It was jointly owned by the state, the main credit suppliers and the main French industrial enterprises. The public/private institution was to handle reparation payments and provide credit to small and medium enterprises. Laurent was co-founder and administrator of the Crédit national.
Ambassador (1920–22)