Draft:Michel Cointat

Michel Cointat (13 April 1921 – 16 November 2013) was a French politician and writer. A member of the Rally for the Republic (RPR) party, he is best known for holding the title of deputy for the department of Ille-et-Vilaine in the French National Assembly for a total of 25 years, as well as being the French Minister of Agriculture from 1971 to 1972.

Early life
Cointat was born on 13 April 1921 to Lucien Cointat, a merchant, and his wife Marie-Louise Cointat (née Adam) in the 10th arrondissement of Paris. He attended the Lycée Montaigne and completed his education at the Lycée Saint-Louis. After graduating, he studied agricultural science at the Institut national agronomique Paris Grignon (National Institute of Agronomy; INA P-G), where he graduated as an agricultural engineer. He then attended the École nationale du génie rural, des eaux et des forêts (National School of Rural Engineering, Water Resources and Forestry; ENGREF), graduating with a postgraduate diploma as a water and forest engineer.

Early career
After completing his studies, Cointat debuted his professional career in Uzès, working as the head of its water and forestry office from 1943 to 1949. Similarly, he worked as Joinville's head of water and forest inspection for the nine years after his termination at Uzès.

With his prior education in the field of agriculture, in 1961, Cointat was called to chair the cabinet of the Minister of Agriculture, Edgard Pisani, where he worked as Director General of Production and Markets from 1962 to 1967. Meanwhile, he acted as an administrator of both l’Office national industriel de l’azote (National Industrial Office of Nitrogen; ONIA) and the Mines Domaniales des Potasses d’Alsace (State Mines Potasses of Alsace) from 1964 to 1967.



Political career
During the 1967 French legislative election, Cointat was elected deputy for the fifth constituency of the Breton town of Ille-et-Vilaine.

Personal life and death
On 11 August 1942, Cointat married Simone Dubois, with whom he had two sons. His elder son, named Christian, was born on 11 July 1943 in Tresques and went on to become a member of the Senate for 13 years, while Alain, born circa 1945, worked as a writer.

On 16 November 2013, Cointat was hospitalized at the Bégin Military Teaching Hospital due to a femural neck fracture after falling in his home. He died soon thereafter.