Index La

La Bourdonnais, Bertrand François Mahé, comte de (count of) (b. Feb. 11, 1699, Saint-Malo, France - d. Nov. 10, 1753, Paris), French naval commander. He entered the service of the French East India Company as a lieutenant in 1718, was promoted to captain in 1724, and distinguished himself in the capture of Mahé on the Malabar Coast of southwestern India in 1726 so that the name of the town was added to his own. For two years he was in the service of the Portuguese viceroy of Goa, but he returned to French service in 1735 when he became governor of Île Bourbon (Réunion) and Île de France (Mauritius) in the Indian Ocean. His five years of actual administration of the islands was vigorous and successful. With the outbreak of war between France and Great Britain in 1740, he was put in command of a fleet in Indian waters. He saved the French outpost of Mahé and relieved the governor-general of French India, Joseph François Dupleix, at Pondicherry; he defeated British forces in two naval actions. His blockade of Madras by sea enabled the French to capture this important port in September 1746. But he quarreled with Dupleix over the conduct of affairs in India, and Dupleix removed him as governor. He set sail on a Dutch vessel to present his case at court, was captured by the British, but was allowed to return home on parole. Arrested in 1748, he was imprisoned in the Bastille for more than two years on charges of poor administration and embezzlement. He was tried in 1751 and acquitted, largely through pressure of popular opinion.

La Brillanne, Antoine de Guiran, chevalier de (b. 1724? - d. April 28, 1779, Le Reduit, Île de France [now Mauritius]), governor-general of the Mascarene Islands (1776-79). Having fought corruption and dishonest transactions with tenacity, there is a possibility that he was poisoned.

P.F. La Follette

La Follette, Philip F(ox) (b. May 8, 1897, Madison, Wis. - d. Aug. 18, 1965, Madison), governor of Wisconsin (1931-33, 1935-39); son of Robert M. La Follette. In 1924-26 he was district attorney in Dane county. He ran five times for the governorship, winning three times. In his first term, as a Republican, he pushed through the legislature the first comprehensive unemployment insurance measure ever adopted by a U.S. state. But the cost of this and other welfare programs led to increased taxation, and the governor's position was further shaken when many of his Democratic supporters followed the leadership of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Former governor Walter J. Kohler rode the crest of a "taxpayer's revolt" that defeated a La Follette in Wisconsin for the first time in 40 years. By 1934 he and his brother Robert M. La Follette, Jr., were convinced that the New Deal was not going to make the basic changes in the structure of American life they thought necessary. The Republican Party, on the other hand, was in their eyes hopelessly reactionary. Consequently they formed a new Progressive Party, and in its first primary Philip was nominated for governor and Robert for reelection as senator. After their dual victory, they were at their peak. In 1936 the new party was the Farmer-Labor-Progressive coalition and as its gubernatorial candidate Philip won a third term. In early 1938 he made a series of radio speeches blasting President Roosevelt and the New Deal. On April 28 he announced the formation of the National Progressives of America. But the pragmatic New Deal had the loyalty of most American liberals who thought La Follette's party was only dividing the left. The governor's own reelection campaign foundered and he was defeated by Julius P. Heil.

R.M. La Follette

La Follette, Robert M(arion), byname Fighting Bob (b. June 14, 1855, Primrose, Wis. - d. June 18, 1925, Washington, D.C.), U.S. politician. He was a district attorney in Dane county (1880-84) and U.S. congressman from southwestern Wisconsin (1885-91) and developed a personality and style that made him a popular leader. He was a Republican but constantly at odds with the leaders of his party. In 1890 he was defeated for reelection in a Democratic landslide. Returning to Madison, he developed the political organization that would allow him to dominate Wisconsin politics until his death. He was elected governor in 1900 and reelected in 1902 and 1904. He was first elected to the Senate in 1905 (serving from 1906 to his death), at a time when that institution was widely believed to be a refuge for millionaires. He acquired instant fame as a new type of senator, one who was not controlled by "the interests," and in his first three years there he achieved the passage of laws aimed against the freight rates, labour policies, and financing practices of the railroads. The high point of his national popularity came in 1909-11 when he emerged as the leader of newly elected and newly converted progressives in Congress. He unsuccessfully ran for the 1912 Republican presidential nomination. In 1917 he was a leader of the anti-war movement. In the 1920s, as labour and farm groups despaired of the conservatism of Democrats and Republicans alike, he was frequently mentioned as a presidential candidate for a third party. Declining the pleas of the Farmer-Labor convention that he run in 1920, he accepted the Progressive Party's nomination in 1924. In the end he carried only the state of Wisconsin, but he placed second in 11 states and polled 4.8 million votes (about one-sixth of the national total).

R.M. La Follette, Jr.

La Follette, Robert M(arion), Jr. (b. Feb. 6, 1895, Madison, Wis. - d. Feb. 24, 1953, Washington, D.C.), U.S. politician; son of Robert M. La Follette. He was elected in 1925 to fill his father's unexpired term in the Senate and was reelected three times thereafter, serving until 1947. He generally supported Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal, but fought some of Roosevelt's policies as the road to war, and especially opposed the Lend-Lease Act and the Neutrality Act. A champion of organized labour, he gained national prominence between 1936 and 1940 as chairman of a special Senate investigating committee, commonly called the La Follette Civil Liberties Committee, which exposed techniques used to prevent workers from organizing. He also drafted the congressional reorganization bill of 1946 that streamlined the legislative process in Congress. That same year, though, he was defeated in the Republican senatorial primary by Joseph McCarthy. He died of a self-inflicted bullet wound.

La Grandière, Pierre Paul Marie de (b. June 28, 1807, Redon, Ille-et-Vilaine, France - d. Aug. 25, 1876, Quimper, Finistère, France), governor of Cochinchina (1863-68).

La Harpe, Frédéric César de (b. April 6, 1754, Rolle, Vaud, Switzerland - d. March 30, 1838, Lausanne, Vaud), Swiss politician. Resenting the Bernese administration in his native Vaud, he went to St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1782, finding employment at the Russian imperial court as tutor to the future emperor Aleksandr and his brother Konstantin. After the outbreak of the French Revolution, he began to plot a Vaudois uprising. In 1794 he returned to Switzerland; failing initially to stir up a revolution, he went to Paris, where he sought French assistance. In 1797 he published his anti-Bernese Essai sur la constitution du pays de Vaud ("Essay on the Constitution of the Vaud") and on Dec. 9, 1797, on behalf of a group of refugees from the Vaud and Fribourg, he addressed a petition to the French Directory urging military intervention in Switzerland to secure Vaudois independence. France ensured its protection and the independence of Vaud was declared Jan. 24, 1798. After French troops invaded in March, La Harpe succeeded, with Peter Ochs, in creating a unitary government for Switzerland, and on June 29, 1798, he became a member of the Directory of the new Helvetic Republic. After securing the deposition of Ochs (June 1799), La Harpe sought dictatorial power but was himself deposed in the conservative coup of Jan. 7, 1800. Later, accused of conspiracy against the state and anti-French intrigue, he was forced to flee the country. With the fall of Napoléon in 1814, he secured from his protector and erstwhile pupil, Aleksandr I, a formal promise of Vaudois independence. In 1815 he made representations on behalf of Switzerland and his native canton at the Congress of Vienna. He served on Vaud's legislative council from 1817 to 1828.

La Jonquière, Jacques Pierre de Taffanel, marquis de (b. April 18, 1685, Lasgraisses, Tarn, France - d. March 17, 1752, Québec, New France [now in Canada]), governor-general of New France (1749-52).

La Loggia, Giuseppe (b. May 1, 1911, Agrigento, Sicilia, Italy - d. March 2, 1994, Rome, Italy), president of Sicilia (1956-58).

La Loyère, Paul Marie Armand de (Beuverand de) (b. Feb. 11, 1847, Versailles, France - d. 19...), governor of Guadeloupe (1903-05).

Laanjärv, Olev (b. March 11, 1942, Haapsalu, Estonia - d. Feb. 28, 2007, Tallinn, Estonia), interior minister of Estonia (1990-92).

Laar

Laar, Mart (b. April 22, 1960, Viljandi, southern Estonian S.S.R.), prime minister of Estonia (1992-94, 1999-2002). Many credit Laar for leading Estonia through lightning economic reforms that won Western praise and ultimately laid the groundwork for rapid economic growth and acceptance to European Union entry talks. But the reforms were tough, and Laar was hurt by murky deals involving the disappearance of millions of rubles meant to go back to Russia after the kroon national currency was launched, and by a multimillion-dollar Israeli arms purchase. In an emotional 1994 no-confidence vote, parliament removed the young historian from office amid opposition accusations of lying to the people. Five years later, he returned to the post, with the tasks of pulling the economy out of a slump and leading the country toward the European Union as his main policy goals. He toned down his free-market rhetoric, agreeing that social problems need more attention.

Labarrère(-Paulé), André (b. Jan. 12, 1928, Pau, Basses-Pyrénées [now Pyrénées-Atlantiques], France - d. May 16, 2006, Pau), president of the Regional Council of Aquitaine (1979-81).

Labeaume, Régis (b. May 2, 1956), mayor of Québec (2007- ).

Labra (García), Wenceslao (b. Sept. 28, 1895, Zumpango de Ocampo, México state, Mexico - d. Dec. 10, 1974, Mexico City), governor of México (1937-41).

Lacalle

Lacalle (de Herrera), Luis Alberto (b. July 13, 1941, Montevideo, Uruguay), president of Uruguay (1990-95). He was an unsuccessful presidential candidate in 1999 and 2009.

Lacascade, Étienne Théodore (Mondésir) (b. Jan. 2, 1841, Saint-François, Guadeloupe - d. Nov. 6, 1906, Paris), governor of the French Settlements in Oceania (1886-93) and of Mayotte (1893-96).

Lacayo Sacasa, Benjamín (b. 1893, Granada, Nicaragua - d. May 5, 1959, Granada), acting president of Nicaragua (1947).

Lacerda, Carlos (Frederico Werneck de) (b. April 30, 1914, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - d. May 21, 1977, Rio de Janeiro), governor of Guanabara (1960-65).

Lacerda, Jorge (b. Aug. 1, 1915 - d. [air accident] June 16, 1958, São José dos Pinhais, Curitiba metropolitan region, Paraná, Brazil), governor of Santa Catarina (1956-58).

Lacey, Richard (Howard) (b. Dec. 11, 1953), administrator of the British Sovereign Base Areas in Cyprus (2006-08).

Lachat, Ernest (Philippe François) (b. April 9, 1876, Thones, Haute-Savoie, France - d. 19...), French resident of Grande Comore (1909-11) and administrator and interim governor of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon (1915-23).

Lachenal, Adrien (Jean Gustave) (b. Jan. 25, 1885 - d. 1962), president of the Council of State of Genève (1936-37, 1938-39, 1942-43); son of Adrien (Louis) Lachenal.

Lachenal, Adrien (Louis) (b. May 19, 1849, Geneva, Switzerland - d. June 29, 1918, Versoix, near Geneva), president of the National Council (1891-92), foreign minister (1893-96), president (1896), trade, industry and agriculture minister (1897), interior minister (1898-99), and president of the Council of States (1903-04) of Switzerland.

Lachenal, Paul (Emile) (b. Dec. 7, 1884, Geneva, Switzerland - d. March 10, 1955), president of the Council of State of Genève (1932-33); nephew of Adrien (Louis) Lachenal.

Lachmon

Lachmon, Jagernath (b. Sept. 21, 1916, Nickerie district, Dutch Guiana [now Suriname] - d. Oct. 19, 2001, The Hague, Netherlands), Surinamese politician. He was chairman of the Progressive Reformed Party (VHP) which he founded, along with others, in 1949, as the Hindi United Party. He was speaker of the National Assembly in 1964-67, 1969-73, 1987-96, and from 2000 until his death. The son of immigrants from India, Lachmon, who had first entered parliament in 1949, espoused "fraternization politics" based on electoral alliances between Hindus and Muslims from the Indian subcontinent and Surinamese of Afro-Caribbean origin, and had opposed independence from the Netherlands in 1975.

Lacognata

Lacognata (Zaragoza), Héctor (Ricardo) (b. Sept. 6, 1962, Asunción, Paraguay), foreign minister of Paraguay (2009- ).

Lacoste, Carlos Alberto (b. Dec. 2, 1929, Buenos Aires - d. June 24, 2004, Buenos Aires), acting president and interior minister (1981) and minister of social action (1981-82) of Argentina.

Lacoste, Francis (b. Nov. 27, 1905 - d. June 28, 1993), French resident-general of Morocco (1954-55). He was also ambassador to Canada (1955-62) and Belgium (1962-63).

Lacoste, Robert (b. July 5, 1898, Azerat, Dordogne, France - d. March 8, 1989, Périgueux, Dordogne), French minister of industry (1947-50) and finances (1956) and resident minister of Algeria (1956-58).

Lacour, Henri (b. March 15, 1897 - d. Aug. 20, 1960), acting governor of Oubangui-Chari (1946).

Lacouture, Charles Alexandre (b. Nov. 30, 1829, Fort-de-France, Martinique - d. 1917), acting governor of Martinique (1879) and governor of French Guiana (1880-83).

Lacroix, Jean-Pierre (Alain) (b. June 30, 1942, Avignon, Vaucluse, France), prefect of French Guiana (1988-90).

Lacrosse, Jean Baptiste Raymond, baron (b. Sept. 7, 1760, Meilhan-sur-Garonne [now in Lot-et-Garonne département], France - d. Sept. 10, 1829, Meilhan-sur-Garonne), governor of Guadeloupe (1793, 1802-03).

Ladgham

Ladgham, Bahi, Arabic al-Bahi al-Ladgham (b. Jan. 10, 1913, Tunis, Tunisia - d. April 13, 1998, Paris, France), Tunisian politician. He was a lieutenant of Tunisian leader Habib Bourguiba during the fight for independence from France, a period during which he headed the Tunisian Office for National Liberation in New York from 1951 to 1955. After Tunisia became independent in 1956, he was appointed Secretary for the Presidency in 1957 before the title was formally changed to prime minister in 1969. He also was minister of national defense (1957-66, 1968), finance and planning (1958, 1960), and commerce (1960). He was replaced as prime minister in 1970 by Hédi Nouira after Bourguiba decided to abandon socialism and shifted toward economic liberalization. Ladgham was known in the Middle East for his role as head of the Arab League reconciliation committee during the Palestinian-Jordanian conflict in 1970, known as the "Black September" massacre.

Ladoja, Rashidi (Adewolu) (b. Sept. 25, 1944, Gambari village [now in Oyo state], Nigeria), governor of Oyo (2003-06, 2006-07). He was removed by impeachment in January 2006 after he had fallen out with his backer Lamidi Adedibu, known in Nigeria as a political godfather. The Appeal Court on Nov. 1, 2006, declared the impeachment null and void, and this ruling was upheld by the Supreme Court in December, when he was reinstated.

Ladrón de Guevara (Orozco Calderón), Diego (b. 1641, Cifuentes [now in Castilla-La Mancha], Spain - d. Sept. 9, 1718, Mexico City), viceroy of Peru (1710-16).

Lafalla

Lafer

Lafalla, Arturo (Pedro) (b. 1944, Mendoza, Argentina), governor of Mendoza (1995-99).

Lafer, Celso (b. 1941, São Paulo), foreign minister of Brazil (1992, 2001-03).

Laffan, Sir Robert (Michael) (b. September 1821, County Clare, Ireland - d. March 22, 1882, Mount Langton, Bermuda), governor of Bermuda (1877-82); knighted 1875.

Laffon de Ladébat, André Émile Léon (b. Jan. 17, 1807, Paris - d. March 24, 1874, Paris), commandant of the Naval Division of the Western Coasts of Africa (1863-66).

Laflaquière, Jean-Pierre (b. Aug. 18, 1947, Toulouse, Haute-Garonne, France), prefect of French Guiana (2006-09).

Lafont, Louis Charles Georges Jules (b. April 24, 1825, Fort-de-France, Martinique - d. Jan. 31, 1908, Paris), governor of Cochinchina (1877-79).

Lafontaine

Lafontaine, Oskar (b. Sept. 16, 1943, Saarlautern [now Saarlouis], Germany), German politician. He was a member of the legislature of Saarland in 1970-75 and became a mayor of Saarbrücken in 1974 and that city's lord mayor in 1976. He became minister-president of Saarland after leading the Social Democratic Party (SPD) to an upset victory in the 1985 state election; he held the post until 1998. On Sept. 28, 1990, a congress of the SPD formally nominated him as chancellor candidate for the December 2 elections, the first after German reunification on October 3. The incumbent chancellor, Helmut Kohl of the Christian Democratic Union, campaigned as the "chancellor of unity," basking in the national glory. Lafontaine focused on the cost of unification and was concerned with matters affecting the ordinary citizen. But reunification itself was the dominant issue, and the SPD received only 33.5% of the vote. At the 1995 congress of the SPD, he unexpectedly declared his candidacy for party chairman and succeeded in defeating incumbent Rudolf Scharping. Often depicted as a modern-day Napoleon by cartoonists because of his small, rotund figure, pointed nose, and often superior manner, he brought the notoriously fractious party together and marched it out of the doldrums. Under his leadership, but with Gerhard Schröder as chancellor candidate, the party won the September 1998 elections, and he became finance minister. Britain bristled at his plans to align European tax rates, viewing it as an implied tax hike. "Is this the most dangerous man in Europe?" the tabloid Sun screamed in November 1998. He suddenly resigned from all posts in March 1999, citing the "poor teamwork" in Schröder's cabinet. In 2004 he strongly criticized Schröder's social policies; in 2005 he withdrew from the SPD to become a leading candidate of a new left-wing alliance in the September elections. He became parliamentary co-leader of the Left after the election; in 2007 he became co-chairman of the united party The Left.

Lafontant, Roger (b. 1931?, Port-au-Prince, Haiti - d. Sept. 29, 1991, Port-au-Prince), interior and defense minister (1972-73, 1982-85) and provisional president (1991) of Haiti. He led an abortive coup in January 1991, trying to prevent the taking office of president-elect Jean-Bertrand Aristide. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in July, and was killed in the penitentiary during another coup in September.

Lafranchi, Arturo (b. June 27, 1914, Coglio, Ticino - d. April 25, 2003, Locarno, Ticino), president of the Council of State of Ticino (1965-66, 1969-70, 1973-74).

Lages, Afrânio Salgado (b. March 14, 1911, Maceió, Alagoas, Brazil - d. Feb. 12, 1990, Maceió), governor of Alagoas (1971-75).

Laghdaf

Laghdaf, Moulaye Ould Mohamed, Arabic Mawlay walad Muhammad al-Laghzaf (b. 1957, Néma, Mauritania), prime minister of Mauritania (2008- ).

Lago, Mario (b. 1878, Savona, Italy - d. 1950, Capri, Italy), governor of the Dodecanese Islands (1923-36).

Lagorio, Lelio (b. Nov. 9, 1925, Trieste [now in Friuli-Venezia Giulia], Italy), president of Toscana (1970-78) and defense minister of Italy (1980-83).

Lagos Cházaro (Mortero), Francisco (Jerónimo de Jesús) (b. Sept. 30, 1878, Tlacotalpan, Veracruz, Mexico - d. Nov. 13, 1932, Mexico City), acting president of Mexico (1915).

R. Lagos

Lagos Escobar, Ricardo (Froilán) (b. March 2, 1938, Santiago), president of Chile (2000-06). He won the 1999 election as the candidate of the Concertación de los Partidos por la Democracia (including Partido Demócrata Cristiano and Partido Socialista de Chile).

Lagourgue, Pierre (b. Jan. 3, 1921, Sainte-Marie, Réunion - d. Feb. 16, 1998, Paris), president of the Regional Council of Réunion (1986-92).

Lagu, Joseph (b. Nov. 21, 1931), chairman of the Southern Sudan Liberation Front (1969-71) and of the Southern Sudan Liberation Movement (1971-72), chairman of the High Executive Council of Southern Sudan (1978-80), and second vice president of The Sudan (1978-80, 1982-85).

LaGuardia

LaGuardia, Fiorello H(enry) (b. Dec. 11, 1882, New York City - d. Sept. 20, 1947, New York City), mayor of New York City (1934-46). After an unsuccessful attempt in 1914, he was elected to the House of Representatives as a progressive Republican in 1916, but his term was interrupted by service in World War I. He was returned to Congress in 1918, was elected president of the New York City board of aldermen in 1919, but gave up the city post in 1922 to return to the House, where he opposed Prohibition and child labour and supported woman suffrage. In 1929 he first ran for mayor but was beaten. In 1932 he cosponsored the Norris-LaGuardia Act, which restricted the courts' power to restrain strikes, boycotts, or picketing by organized labour. That same year he was defeated for reelection to the House, but in 1933 he ran successfully for mayor on a "Fusion" (a Liberal and Republican party coalition) reform ticket dedicated to unseating Tammany Hall (the Democratic organization in New York). He was an indefatigable administrator who obtained a new city charter, fought corruption and organized crime, improved the operations of the police and fire departments, expanded the city's social-welfare services, and began slum-clearance and low-cost-housing programs. Among his building projects were the LaGuardia Airport and numerous roads and bridges. A colourful figure with a flair for the dramatic, he became known as "The Little Flower" in token of his first name. In 1941 he also briefly served as director of the U.S. Office of Civilian Defense. Having been reelected as mayor in 1937 and 1941, he refused to run for a fourth term in 1945. From March to December 1946 he was director-general of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration.

Laguiller

Laguiller, Arlette (Yvonne) (b. March 18, 1940, Paris, France), French politician. In reaction to the Algeria war, she joined the United Socialist Party (PSU) in 1960 and then the Trotskyist group Voix Ouvrière (Workers' Voice). When the latter was banned in June 1968, she joined Lutte Ouvrière (Workers' Fight) and became its national spokesperson in 1973. The following year she was one of the leaders of a two-month strike which paralyzed the Crédit Lyonnais and spread to other banks. She was Lutte Ouvrière's candidate in the 1974, 1981, 1988, 1995, 2002, and 2007 presidential elections. She is a local councillor in the Paris suburb of Les Lilas, a regional councillor in the greater Paris area (Île de France), and, since 1999, a member of the European Parliament. She is a member of the national leadership of Lutte Ouvrière and certainly the best-known and most popular representative of the party which is otherwise led by the mysterious Robert Barcia ("Hardy"). While Laguiller, famous for starting her speeches with her traditional "Travailleurs, travailleuses," got about 2% of the vote in her first three presidential runs, this increased to 5% in 1995 and 6% in 2002, but she was down to 1% in 2007.

Lagumdzija

Lagumdzija, Zlatko (b. Dec. 26, 1955, Sarajevo), foreign minister (2001-03) and prime minister (2001-02) of Bosnia and Hercegovina.

Lahady, Samuel (b. Nov. 15, 1931, Toamasina, eastern Madagascar), governor of Toamasina (2001-02). He was sentenced to five years in prison on Jan. 16, 2003, for "attacking the interior safety of the state and criminal conspiracy." On Dec. 15, 2003, he was further sentenced to three years in prison for proclaiming the independence of his province during the 2002 political crisis.

Lahiniriko, Jean (b. April 1, 1956, Tongobory, southern Madagascar), Madagascar presidential candidate (2006). He was elected president of the National Assembly in January 2003 but was sacked in May 2006 for backing Iran's nuclear programme.

Lahnstein

Lahnstein, Anne Enger (b. Dec. 9, 1949, Trøgstad, Østfold county, Norway), Norwegian politician. She successfully led the "No" campaign ahead of a 1994 referendum on membership of the European Union, earning the nickname "No Queen." In 1998 she was acting prime minister for some weeks when Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik took a sick leave.

É. Lahoud

Lahoud, Émile (Geamil), Arabic Imil Jamil Lahhud (b. Jan. 12, 1936, Beirut), president of Lebanon (1998-2007); nephew of Salim Lahoud. He joined the Military Academy on Oct. 1, 1956, as a marine cadet officer. He was promoted to the rank of Ensign on Sept. 18, 1959, and was appointed two months later as commander of the ship Beirut until Sept. 20, 1965. Promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade on Sept. 18, 1962, he was appointed as commander of the ship Sour from Sept. 20, 1965, to Oct. 1, 1966, then Commander of the 2nd Division of Ships until Oct. 16, 1967. He was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant on Jan. 1, 1968. On Dec. 10, 1968, he was appointed Commander of the 1st Division of Ships, then was assigned to the Fourth Bureau of the Army Command on March 26, 1970. On Aug. 30, 1973, Lahoud was appointed Chief of Staff of the Office of the Army Commander until July 1, 1979, when he was sent to further pursue his military studies in the United States. He was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Commander on Jan. 1, 1974, Commander on Jan. 1, 1976, and Captain on Jan. 1, 1980. Upon his return from the United States, he was appointed Director of Personnel in the Army Command, and later, Director of the Military Office in the Ministry of Defense on Feb. 10, 1983. He was appointed as commander of the armed forces on Nov. 28, 1989. He was credited with rebuilding the 55,000-strong Lebanese army and in ending the reign of militias. On Oct. 15, 1998, the constitution was amended to allow his election as president. Formerly state officials had been banned from standing for the office within two years of holding their official position. Parliament extended his six-year term by three years on Sept. 3, 2004.

Lahoud, Salim, Arabic Salim Lahhud, foreign minister of Lebanon (1955-57).

Lai Xinhui (b. 1884, Santai, Sichuan, China - d. April 18, 1942, Chengdu, Sichuan), civil (1925-29) and military (1927-29) governor of Sichuan. A graduate of Yunnan Military College, he participated in the "War of Constitution Protection" in 1917, as the commander in chief of the Sichuan branch of the Constitutional Army. After the fall of the Beijing government, he crossed over to the south and was named commander of the 22nd Army and of the 11th Division. He was also a member of the Military Senate. He died in 1942, accusing himself of "leading the people into endless wars" as a warlord.

Laigret, Christian (Robert Roger) (b. May 22, 1903, Blois, Loir-et-Cher, France - d. Dec. 14, 1977), governor of New Caledonia (1943-44), acting lieutenant governor of Mauritania (1944-45) and Middle Congo (1946), and prefect of Martinique (1950-54).

Laínez

Laínez (Rivas), Francisco (Esteban) (b. March 23, 1961, San Salvador), foreign minister of El Salvador (2004-08).

Lajcák

Lajolo

Lajcák, Miroslav (b. March 20, 1963, Poprad, Czechoslovakia [now in Slovakia]), international high representative in Bosnia and Hercegovina (2007-09) and foreign minister of Slovakia (2009- ). He was Slovakia's ambassador to Japan (1994-98) and to Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro), Albania, and Macedonia (2001-05).

Lajolo, Giovanni Cardinal (b. Jan. 3, 1935, Novara, Italy), Vatican foreign minister (2003-06). He was made a cardinal in 2007.

Lak, Robert (b. 19... - d. April 13, 2006, Mount Hagen, Western Highlands, Papua New Guinea), governor of Western Highlands (1997-2002).

Lakas Bahas, Demetrio (Basilio) (b. Aug. 29, 1925, Colón, Panama - d. Nov. 2, 1999, Panama City, Panama), president of Panama (1969-78).

Lakatani

Lake-Tack

Lakatani, Sani (Elia Lagigietama) (b. 1936), finance minister (1990, 1993-94) and premier (1999-2002) of Niue.

Lake-Tack, Dame Louise (Agnetha) (b. July 26, 1944, Long Lane Estate, St. Phillips parish, Antigua), governor-general of Antigua and Barbuda (2007- ); knighted 2007.

Lakhera, M(adan) M(ohan) (b. 1937), lieutenant governor of Pondicherry (2004-06), acting lieutenant governor of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (2006), and governor of Mizoram (2006- ).

Lakhoua, (Sidi Mohamed) Hédi, Arabic Sayyid Muhammad al-Hadi al-Ahwa (b. 1872 - d. 1949), prime minister of Tunisia (1932-42).

Bansi Lal

Lal, Bansi (b. Aug. 26, 1927, Golagarh, Bhiwani district, Punjab [now in Haryana], India - d. March 28, 2006, New Delhi, India), chief minister of Haryana (1968-75, 1985-87, 1996-99) and defense minister of India (1975-77).

Lal, Bhajan (b. Oct. 6, 1930, Koranwali, Bahawalpur district, Punjab, India [now in Pakistan]), chief minister of Haryana (1979-85, 1991-96).

Lal, Bipen Bihari (b. Jan. 30, 1917, Allahabad [now in Uttar Pradesh], India), chief executive (1975) and governor (1975-80) of Sikkim.

D. Lal

Lal, (Chaudhary) Devi (b. Sept. 25, 1914, Chautala [now in Haryana], India - d. April 6, 2001, New Delhi), Indian politician. He joined India's independence struggle against the British in 1929 at the age of 15. Popularly known as "Tau" which means respected uncle in Hindi, he was from the northern state of Haryana and was a well-known leader of India's farming community. He was detained during India's emergency rule from 1975 to 1977 imposed by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. He was the chief minister of Haryana on two occasions (1977-79, 1987-89). In 1989, he turned down the job of Indian prime minister when a coalition of socialists and leftist groups came into power after the defeat of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in parliamentary elections. He was deputy prime minister from December 1989 to July 1990 during Prime Minister V.P. Singh's tenure and from November 1990 to June 1991 under Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar.

Laldenga (b. 1937? - d. July 7, 1990, London, England), chief minister of Mizoram (1986-88).

Laleau

Laleau, Léon H. (b. Aug. 3, 1892, Port-au-Prince, Haiti - d. Sept. 7, 1979, Pétionville, Haiti), foreign minister of Haiti (1933-34, 1938-40).

Lall, John S. (b. Sept. 9, 1914 - d. Dec. 26, 2002, Jilling, Uttaranchal [now Uttarakhand], India), dewan of Sikkim (1949-54).

Lally-Tollendal, Thomas Arthur, comte de, in full Thomas Arthur O'Lally, dit Lally-Tollendal, comte de Lally, baron de Tollendal (b. Jan. 13, 1702, Romans, Drôme, France - d. [beheaded] May 9, 1766, Paris, France), governor of French India (1758-60).

Lalor, Patrick J(oseph) (b. July 21, 1926, Dublin), minister of posts and telegraphs (1969-70) and industry and commerce (1970-73) of Ireland.

Lalumière, Catherine (b. Aug. 3, 1935, Rennes, France), consumption minister of France (1981-83) and secretary-general of the Council of Europe (1989-94).

Lam

Lam, David C., in full David See-Chai Lam, Pinyin Lin Siqi (b. July 25, 1923, Hong Kong), lieutenant governor of British Columbia (1988-95). An established banker in Hong Kong, Lam emigrated to Canada in 1967, becoming a Canadian citizen in 1972. He became a major real estate investor and developer, helping to shape Vancouver's skyline. He concluded his business interests in 1982 and since that time devoted his life to philanthropic pursuits. He is largely credited with helping initiate the "Beautify B.C." movement that saw a dramatic increase in the number and quality of the province's public parks and gardens. Although he never held an elected public office, Lam was recognized for his contributions to the province, and in 1988 he was appointed as the first Asian-Canadian lieutenant governor. In that position he continued to be a strong advocate of multiculturalism, especially among British Columbia's ever-increasing population of Chinese immigrants. His proudest moment came in 1994, when he presided over the Commonwealth Games held in Victoria.

Lamadjido, Abdul Aziz (b. Sept. 1, 1932, Palu, Netherlands East Indies [now in Sulawesi Tengah, Indonesia]), governor of Sulawesi Tengah (1986-96).

Lamb, Sir Archie, byname of Sir Albert Thomas Lamb (b. Oct. 23, 1921), British political agent in Abu Dhabi (1965-68); knighted 1979. He was also ambassador to Kuwait (1974-77) and Norway (1978-80).

Lambert, Edward A(ugustus) (b. June 10, 1813, Brooklyn, N.Y. - d. Sept. 7, 1885, Brooklyn), mayor of Brooklyn (1853-54).

Lambert, Joseph (François) (b. 1824, Redon, Ille-et-Vilaine, France - d. 1873), regent of Mohéli (1868-71).

Lambertin, Pierre (Francis) (b. Jan. 11, 1921, Lyon, France), prefect of Martinique (1966-67).

Lamberto, Oscar (Santiago) (b. Nov. 2, 1944), finance secretary of Argentina (2001).

Lamblin, Auguste (Henri) (b. Sept. 3, 1870, Besançon, Doubs, France - d. April 8, 1946, Paris), lieutenant governor of Oubangui-Chari (1917-29).

Lambotte, Gérard (Marius Georges) (b. Oct. 11, 1936, Reims, France), administrator-superior of Wallis and Futuna (1987-88).

Lambruschini (della Valle), Armando (b. June 15, 1924 - d. Aug. 15, 2004, Buenos Aires, Argentina), Argentine admiral. He was commander-in-chief of the Navy, and as such member of the ruling junta, from 1978 to 1981. In 1985 he was sentenced to eight years in prison for violations of human rights but Pres. Carlos Menem granted him a pardon in 1990. He was arrested again in 2003 as the Spanish judge Baltasar Garzón issued an arrest warrant for "genocide, terrorism and torture" during the Argentine dictatorship. Nevertheless, he was released later when Spain stopped the request for his extradition.

Lambsdorff, Otto (Friedrich Wilhelm von der Wenge) Graf (b. Dec. 20, 1926, Aachen, Germany - d. Dec. 5, 2009, Bonn, Germany), economy minister of West Germany (1977-82, 1982-84) and chairman of the Free Democratic Party (1988-93).

Lami, Pierre (Auguste Michel Marie) (b. May 2, 1909 - d. Sept. 21, 1994), governor of Ivory Coast (1956-57) and governor (1957-58) and high commissioner (1958-60) of Senegal.

Lamido, Sule (b. Aug. 30, 1948, Bamaina village [now in Jigawa state], Nigeria), foreign minister of Nigeria (1999-2003) and governor of Jigawa (2007- ).

Lamirande, Henri Dussault de (d. Aug. 30, 1736), governor of French Guiana (1730-36).

Lamizana

Lamizana, (Aboubacar) Sangoulé (b. Jan. 31, 1916, Dianra, near Tougan, northwestern Upper Volta [now Burkina Faso] - d. May 26, 2005, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso), president (1966-80), foreign and defense minister (1966-67), and prime minister (1974-78) of Upper Volta.

Lammers, Han, byname of Johannes Christiaan Jan Lammers (b. Sept. 10, 1931, Amsterdam - d. July 5, 2000, Amsterdam), landdrost of Zuidelijke IJsselmeerpolders (1976-86), mayor of Almere (1984-86), and queen's commissioner of Flevoland (1986-96).

Lamont, Donald (Alexander) (b. Jan. 13, 1947), governor of the Falkland Islands (1999-2002). He entered the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1974 and held posts in Vienna (1977-80), Moscow (1980-82), Berlin (1988-91), Montevideo (1991-94), and Sarajevo (1997-98). In 2003-06 he was ambassador to Venezuela.

N. Lamont

Lamont of Lerwick, Norman (Stewart Hughson) Lamont, Baron (b. May 8, 1942, Lerwick, Shetland Islands, Scotland), British chancellor of the exchequer (1990-93). He was elected MP for the London suburb of Kingston-upon-Thames in 1972. He was one of a minority of Conservative MPs to give public support to Margaret Thatcher during her campaign for the party leadership in 1975. She rewarded him with junior posts, first in opposition and then in government. Lamont was appointed financial secretary to the treasury in 1986 - its third-ranking minister. In 1989 Thatcher promoted him to her cabinet, with the job of chief secretary to the treasury, which made him the second-in-command to the chancellor of the exchequer. For the final year of Thatcher's premiership, Lamont worked closely with John Major, his immediate superior. Few were surprised when Major chose Lamont as the manager of his successful five-day campaign for the Conservative Party leadership and then rewarded him with the most important job in his cabinet: chancellor of the exchequer. In his first annual budget in March 1991, he showed boldness when he raised the value-added tax from 15 to 17.5% in order to fund a £140 reduction in each individual's poll tax bill. This move, combined with the government's decision to replace the poll tax from 1993, helped to remove the sting from one of the most disastrous decisions of the Thatcher era. He failed to be reelected to the House of Commons in 1997 and was made a life peer in 1998.

Lamoricière

Lamoricière, (Christophe) Louis (Léon) Juchault de (b. Feb. 5, 1806, Nantes, France - d. Sept. 10, 1865, Prouzel, Somme, France), French general and administrator. After entering the engineers in 1829, he was sent to Algiers (1830) as a captain in the Zouaves when that corps was first formed. In 1833 he played a prominent role in the creation of the Arab Bureau, which was to coordinate information on French Arab colonies. He distinguished himself at the taking of Constantine in 1837. He was promoted to colonel (1837) and rose rapidly to major-general (1840), lieutenant-general (1841), and general of division (1843). He served as governor-general of Algeria during the incumbent's absence in 1845-47. In France in 1846, he was elected deputy for Sarthe and submitted a plan for free, rather than military, colonization of Algeria. In 1847 he directed the operations which led to the submission of Abd-el-Kader. On Jan. 14, 1848, a month before the revolution in France, he was named Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour. On February 24, in the uniform of a colonel of the National Guard, he tried to stop the insurrection by proclaiming the king's abdication and the regency of the Duchess of Orléans, but the rioters would not listen to him. He served as minister of war (June-December 1848) and was sent on a diplomatic mission to Russia (1850-51). As one of the most conspicuous opponents of the policy of Louis-Napoléon, he was arrested (December 1851) and exiled; he refused to take an oath to the new constitution and was struck out of the French army list. He was allowed to return to France in 1857. In 1860 he took command of the papal troops against Piedmont but was severely defeated at Castelfidardo and returned to France.

Lamothe, Henri (Félix) de (b. Aug. 8, 1843, Metz, France - d. March 20, 1926, Paris), commandant (1886-87) and governor (1887, 1888-89) of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, governor of Senegal (1890-95) and French Guiana (1895-96), commissioner-general of French Congo (1897-1900), lieutenant governor of Cochinchina (1901-02), and resident-superior of Cambodia (1902-04).

Lamport, Allan A(ustin) (b. 1903 - d. Nov. 18, 1999, Toronto, Ontario, Canada), mayor of Toronto (1952-54).

Lamprecht

Lamprecht, Carlo (b. Oct. 26, 1935, Lugano, Ticino, Switzerland), president of the Council of State of Genève (2000-01).

Lampreia

P. Lamy

Lampreia, Luiz Felipe Palmeira (b. Oct. 19, 1941, Rio de Janeiro), foreign minister of Brazil (1995-2001).

Lamrani, Mohamed Karim, Arabic Muhammad Karim al-`Amrani (b. May 1, 1919, Fès, Morocco), prime minister of Morocco (1971-72, 1983-86, 1992-94).

Lamy, Henry Martin (b. Nov. 13, 1802, Paris - d. ...), commandant of Nossi-Bé (1845-48).

Lamy, Julien Georges (b. Dec. 12, 1878 - d. Jan. 6, 1940), acting governor of Ivory Coast (1936).

Lamy, Pascal (Lucien Fernand) (b. April 8, 1947, Levallois-Perret, Hauts-de-Seine, France), director-general of the World Trade Organization (2005- ). Earlier he was an EU commissioner (1999-2004).

Lanc

Lanc, Erwin (b. May 17, 1930, Vienna), transportation minister (1973-77), interior minister (1977-83), and foreign minister (1983-84) of Austria.

Lancís Sánchez, Félix (b. Nov. 20, 1900), premier of Cuba (1944-45, 1950-51).

Landazábal Reyes, Fernando (b. 1921? - d. [assassinated] May 12, 1998, Bogotá, Colombia), defense minister of Colombia (1982-84).

Landolt, Jules (b. 1930 - d. April 3, 2005, Näfels, Glarus, Switzerland), Landammann of Glarus (1990-94).

Landon

Landon, Alfred M(ossman), byname Alf Landon (b. Sept. 9, 1887, West Middlesex, Pa. - d. Oct. 12, 1987, Topeka, Kan.), U.S. politician. In 1912 he attended the Bull Moose convention of the Progressive Party in Chicago that nominated Theodore Roosevelt for the presidency. He campaigned for Roosevelt in Kansas and his political affiliation remained with progressive Republicanism. He became head of the Republican state organization in 1928 and delivered the largest percentage of any state for Herbert Hoover's election victory. He was elected governor of Kansas in 1932, narrowly defeating Democratic incumbent Harry H. Woodring by 5,637 votes; he was the only Republican gubernatorial candidate west of the Mississippi to win office that year in the wake of the Democratic landslide. Reelected in 1934, he was the only Republican gubernatorial incumbent to win that year. This victory led to the "Landon Boom" and to his presidential candidacy of 1936. Although 16,679,543 Americans voted the Republican ticket, compared with Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt's 27,747,636, Landon won the electoral votes of only Maine and Vermont, giving him only 8 electoral votes to Roosevelt's 523. Landon good-naturedly assessed his two-state victory by remarking, "As Maine goes, so goes Vermont." He never again sought political office but retained an interest in politics and in later years was referred to fondly as the "grand old man of Republican politics." The month before his death, Landon received President and Mrs. Ronald Reagan, who extended their warmest wishes in anticipation of his 100th birthday. Landon's daughter Nancy Landon Kassebaum (from 1996, Nancy Kassebaum Baker) (b. July 29, 1932, Topeka, Kan.) was a Republican senator from Kansas (1978-97).

Landry

Landry, (Jean) Bernard (b. March 9, 1937, Saint-Jacques de Montcalm, Joliette region, Quebec), premier of Quebec (2001-03). He first ran for the Quebec legislature in 1970, unsuccessfully, as the candidate of the Parti Québécois (PQ), a movement committed to winning independence for Quebec. He was elected in 1976, when the PQ came to power in the province. He rose rapidly through a number of cabinet posts to become Quebec's minister of finance in 1985. Later that year the PQ lost office, but in 1994 it was returned to power, and Landry was appointed deputy premier under Jacques Parizeau. When Lucien Bouchard took over as premier in 1996, Landry was made finance minister again in addition to the deputy premiership and other portfolios. Reviving the Quebec economy, weakened by years of political uncertainty, and restoring a sound basis to Quebec's public finances were tasks he considered essential to give credibility to Quebec's claims of statehood. His efforts were crowned with success when he balanced the books of the provincial government in 1999 for the first time in many years. He is considered a hard-line supporter of independence, in the mould of Parizeau, as opposed to the "go-slow" approach of Bouchard, whom he succeeded as premier in 2001. Landry asserted that Quebec was more than a "distinct society" within Canada; it was a nation that deserved to be recognized as a state. But he had to contend with the province's English-speaking residents and immigrants, who were strongly opposed to separation. Another referendum would have to be held to win the right to negotiate independence (the last one failed in 1995), and he made it clear that a vote would take place only when conditions were ripe for its success. He lost the 2003 election to the Liberals under Jean Charest. In June 2005 he resigned as PQ leader and gave up his seat in the Quebec National Assembly.

Landsbergis

Landsbergis, Vytautas (Vytautovich) (b. Oct. 18, 1932, Kaunas, Lithuania), Lithuanian politician. He was elected the first chairman of the nationalist organization Sajudis in November 1988. When Lithuania declared independence in March 1990, he was elected president. Moscow's response was to blockade the republic in an attempt to bring it to its knees. The blockade was lifted in June when Lithuania suspended the declaration pending independence talks. Lithuania was in a better position to negotiate independence than the other Baltic republics since only about 20% of the population was non-Lithuanian. He was sharply critical of the U.S., Britain, and other Western nations for their refusal to support self-determination for Lithuanians. It was cold comfort for him that the West saw Mikhail Gorbachev as the leader who was bringing democracy to the Soviet Union. Strengthening Gorbachev would only make it more difficult for Lithuania to break free. Landsbergis' task abroad - for example, he visited Britain in November 1990 and held talks with Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher - was to counter the Western belief that Gorbachev was a democrat. In 1991 the Soviet Union recognized Lithuania's independence. In 1992, after Sajudis was defeated in parliamentary elections, he became the leader of the parliamentary opposition. In 1996, he was reelected to parliament and became its speaker (until 2000).

Landy

Landy, John (Michael) (b. Dec. 14, 1930, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia), governor of Victoria (2001-06). He was a popular sporting figure who ran six four-minute miles and once set new world records both in the 1,500 metres and mile. He also won bronze for Australia at the Melbourne Olympics in 1956.

Lane, Ambrose (b. 1791?, County Tipperary, Ireland - d. Sept. 7, 1853, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island), acting lieutenant governor of Prince Edward Island (1850-51).

Lanessan, (Jean Marie) Antoine de (b. July 13, 1843, Saint-André-de-Cubzac, Gironde, France - d. Nov. 7, 1919, Ecouen, Val-d'Oise, France), governor-general of French Indochina (1891-94) and marine minister of France (1899-1902).

Lang(-Gehri), Hedi, née Gehri (b. Oct. 30, 1931, Uster, Zürich, Switzerland - d. March 31, 2004, Zollikerberg, Zürich), president of the National Council of Switzerland (1981-82) and president of the government of Zürich (1989-90, 1994-95).

Lang, Jack, byname of John Thomas Lang (b. Dec. 21, 1876, Sydney - d. Sept. 27, 1975, Sydney), premier of New South Wales (1925-27, 1930-32).

J. Lang

Lang, Jack (Mathieu Émile) (b. Sept. 2, 1939, Mirecourt, Vosges, France), French politician. In 1977 he was elected a municipal councillor in Paris. He was appointed minister of culture on May 22, 1981. With a style closer to that of the Latin Quarter than the Louvre, he was the most visible symbol of the new Socialist administration. His predecessors may have shunned controversy in a field supposedly above politics, but Lang denounced their culture as elitist and set out to steer it in a popular and Socialist direction. From the start he attacked France's staid cultural institutions, relaxed the government hold on radio and television, and brought cultural life into the workplaces and the provinces. At the same time Lang hoped to restore his country's role as a leader in world cultural life. A report commissioned by his ministry called for measures against the influx of foreign records and deplored U.S. influence on French film, television, and popular music. In December 1983 he toured Brazil as part of an attempt to revive links with Latin America. He stepped up French involvement in third-world cinema, was host to an international conference on "culture and development," and denounced U.S. "intellectual imperialism." He lost his cabinet seat in March 1983, but remained in the government as minister-delegate for culture (1983-84) and then returned to the post of minister of culture (1984-86). He later was minister of culture and communication (1988-92), minister of education and culture (1992-93), and minister of education (2000-02).

R. Lang

Lang, Rein (b. July 4, 1957, Tartu, Estonian S.S.R.), foreign minister (2005) and justice minister (2005- ) of Estonia.

D. Lange

Lange, David (Russell) (b. Aug. 4, 1942, Otahuhu, Auckland, N.Z. - d. Aug. 13, 2005, Auckland), prime minister (1984-89) and foreign minister (1984-87) of New Zealand. In North Auckland, he ran unsuccessfully as a Labour candidate for parliament in 1976. He gained nomination to a safe seat in a 1977 by-election, which he won. He immediately made his mark as a quick-witted orator. In 1979 he was elected deputy party leader, just missed election to the top spot in December 1980, and watched Labour narrowly defeated in 1981. Sir Wallace Rowling ceded the party leadership to him in February 1983. He expected to confront Prime Minister Robert Muldoon's National Party in November 1984, but his moment came six months earlier when Muldoon called a snap election. Lange led Labour to a sweeping victory in the July 14 election and was sworn in as prime minister on July 26, becoming the country's youngest prime minister in the 20th century. He fulfilled Labour's campaign promise to deny New Zealand's port facilities to nuclear-armed and nuclear-powered vessels. The ban primarily affected U.S. warships and amounted to a fundamental shift in relations with the United States; New Zealand was effectively excluded from the ANZUS (Australia-New Zealand-U.S.) defense alliance. He was also forthright in confronting France after that nation's agents blew up the Rainbow Warrior, a ship belonging to the environmentalist group Greenpeace, in Auckland harbour. He pressed for an apology and reparations from France for the sinking of the vessel. At home, he initiated radical free-market reforms. The Labour Party won the election of August 1987, and Lange continued as prime minister until 1989, when he resigned, citing health reasons. He was attorney general in 1989-90 and remained in parliament until 1996.

Lange, Halvard (Manthey) (b. Sept. 16, 1902 - d. May 19, 1970, Oslo), foreign minister of Norway (1946-63, 1963-65).

Langer

Langley

Langer, Ivan (b. Jan. 1, 1967, Olomouc, Czechoslovakia [now in Czech Republic]), interior minister (2006-09) and minister of information technologies (2006-07) of the Czech Republic. He served as deputy chairman of the Chamber of Deputies in 1998-2002.

Langley, Sir (Henry) Desmond (Allen) (b. May 16, 1930, London, England - d. Feb. 14, 2008, Liphook, Hampshire, England), administrator of the British Sovereign Base Areas (1983-85) and governor of Bermuda (1988-92); knighted 1983.

Langos, Ján (b. Aug. 2, 1946, Banská Bystrica, Czechoslovakia [now in Slovakia] - d. [car crash] June 15, 2006, Turna nad Bodvou, eastern Slovakia), interior minister of Czechoslovakia (1990-92). He served as a Slovak lawmaker from 1994 to 2002, chairing Slovakia's Democratic Party for five years during that period. In 2003 he set up and was elected to head Slovakia's National Memory Institute, which provides access to once-classified records of the secret services.

Langro, Paul (b. 1936, Vanimo village, New Guinea [now in Papua New Guinea] - d. May 22, 2007, Vanimo), premier of Sandaun (1984-87).

Lanneau, Louis Ferdinand de (b. July 8, 1822, Paris - d. Aug. 4, 1881), governor of Senegal (1880-81).

Lannion, Hyacinthe Gaëtan de, in full Hyacinthe Gaëtan, vicomte de Rennes, dit le comte de Lannion (b. Oct. 26, 1719 - d. Oct. 2, 1762, Mahon, Minorca), governor of Minorca (1756-58, 1760-62).

Lanrezac, Victor (Louis Marie) (b. March 24, 1854, Brest, Finistère, France - d. 19...), governor of French India (1902-04) and the French Settlements in Oceania (1904).

Lansana, David (b. 1922 - d. July 19, 1975, Freetown, Sierra Leone), Sierra Leonean army chief (1965-67). In 1967, when after indecisive elections Governor-General Sir Henry Lightfoot Boston appointed Siaka Stevens as prime minister, Brigadier Lansana had both arrested and temporarily assumed power. After two days a National Reformation Council of young army and police officers took over; Lansana himself was briefly detained and was retired from the army. Stevens finally came to power in 1968, and Lansana was accused of treason that year and was condemned to death in 1970. Though the charge was dismissed by a court of appeal in 1971, he was again condemned for treason for his alleged involvement in a 1974 coup plot and was executed in 1975.

Lansberge, Johan Wilhelm van (b. Nov. 16, 1830, Bogotá, Colombia - d. Dec. 17, 1905, Menton, Alpes-Maritimes, France), governor-general of the Netherlands East Indies (1875-81); son of Reinhart Frans van Lansberge.

Lansberge, Reinhart Frans (Cornelis) van (b. March 6, 1804, Olst, Overijssel, Netherlands - d. May 12, 1873, The Hague), governor of Curaçao (1856-59) and Dutch Guiana (1859-67).

Lansbury

Lansbury, George (b. Feb. 21, 1859, near Halesworth, Suffolk, England - d. May 7, 1940, London), British politician. After some years as a Liberal agent he joined Henry Mayers Hyndman's Social Democratic Federation in 1892 which later became affiliated to the Labour Party. In 1895 he contested Walworth as an SDF candidate for Parliament, but polled only 207 votes. He helped to found (1912), and for a short time edited, the Daily Herald, the first British newspaper devoted to labour subjects. In World War I he defended the rights of conscientious objectors. Under his leadership the Labour Party in Poplar (a poor London borough) gained widespread notoriety. His policy, which came to be known as "Poplarism," was severely criticized and in 1921 he and other councillors went to prison for refusing to collect rates. A Labour member of the House of Commons for the Bow and Bromley division of Poplar (1910-12, 1922-40), his pronounced left wing sympathies kept him in the position of a detached critic among Labour's official representatives until his inclusion in the second Labour government (1929-31) as first commissioner of works. After the fall of that government he became, as the only member of the cabinet to survive the general election, the chairman of the much reduced party in parliament, and was elected party leader when Arthur Henderson resigned that position in 1932. Unwilling as a pacifist to join in calls for economic sanctions (which could have led to war) against Italy for its aggression in Ethiopia, Lansbury resigned in 1935 and was succeeded as party leader by his deputy, Clement Attlee. In 1937 Lansbury visited many world leaders, including Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini, in the belief that his personal influence could help prevent war.

Lansdowne

Lansdowne, Henry (Charles Keith) Petty-Fitzmaurice, (5th) Marquess of,¹ (b. Jan. 14, 1845, London, England - d. June 3, 1927, Clonmel, County Tipperary, Ireland), British diplomat; great-grandson of William Petty-Fitzmaurice, Marquess of Lansdowne. On the death of his father, he succeeded, at age 21, to the marquessate and entered the House of Lords as a member of the Liberal Party. He was a lord of the treasury (1868-72) and undersecretary for war (1872-74) and for India (1880). As governor-general of Canada (1883-88) he had to deal with an Indian rebellion but effected a lasting settlement. On his return to England he broke with his old party by accepting from a Conservative government the appointment as viceroy of India. His tenure (1888-94) saw a combination of vigour and conciliation. There was a short rising in the state of Manipur and its leader Tikendrajit was executed; the independent kingdom of Sikkim was brought under British protection in 1888 and its boundary with Tibet was demarcated; Hunza and Nagar on the Afghan frontier were annexed in 1892. In 1895 he was appointed secretary of state for war. He was blamed for the unpreparedness of the army for the South African War in 1899 and there were even demands for his impeachment. When, after the 1900 elections, the Conservative government was remodelled, his appointment as foreign secretary was met with protest. In that post, which he held until the fall of the Conservative government in 1905, he negotiated the Entente Cordiale with France in 1904. In 1906-10 he was leader of the Conservative opposition in the House of Lords and deplored the disparity of parties there. He was minister without portfolio (1915-16) in H.H. Asquith's government.
¹ Titles inherited in 1866: 24th Baron of Kerry and Lixnaw, 6th Earl of Kerry, 6th Viscount Clanmaurice, 6th Viscount FitzMaurice, 6th Baron Dunkeron, 6th Earl of Shelburne (peerage of Ireland); 6th Baron Wycombe, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne, 5th Earl of Wycombe, and 5th Viscount Calne and Calston (peerage of Great Britain). From 1895 he was also 9th Baron Nairne (peerage of Scotland). He was styled Viscount Clanmaurice in 1845-63 and Earl of Kerry in 1863-66.

Lansdowne

Lansdowne, William Petty-Fitzmaurice, (1st) Marquess of, (1st) Earl of Wycombe, (1st) Viscount Calne and Calston, also called (1761-84) (2nd) Earl of Shelburne, (2nd) Viscount FitzMaurice, (2nd) Baron Dunkeron, (2nd) Baron Wycombe (b. May 13 [May 2, O.S.], 1737, Dublin, Ireland - d. May 7, 1805, London, England), British prime minister (1782-83).

Lánský, Egon (T.), original name Egon Löwy (b. July 23, 1934, Trencin, Czechoslovakia [now in Slovakia]), deputy prime minister of the Czech Republic (1998-99).

A.A. Lanusse

Lanusse (Gelly), Alejandro Agustín (b. Aug. 28, 1918, Buenos Aires, Argentina - d. Aug. 26, 1996, Buenos Aires), president of Argentina (1971-73). In 1951 he was sentenced to life imprisonment for taking part in a coup attempt to overthrow Juan Perón led by Gen. Benjamín Menéndez. When Perón was deposed in 1955, Lanusse was released and promoted to lieutenant colonel. He became part of the army's high command and aligned himself with Gen. Juan Carlos Onganía, who became president in 1966. Lanusse was named commander in chief of the army in 1968 and became Argentina's third military president in five years when he seized power in a coup in March 1971. The army employed violent tactics to silence Peronists, student militants, and others protesting his regime. With escalating unrest, he attempted to achieve stability by calling for free elections. He reestablished diplomatic ties with China and met with Chile's Marxist Pres. Salvador Allende in July 1971. His liberal approach disturbed right-wing officers who mounted an armed challenge in October 1971. He secured the backing of the navy and the air force, and the challenge to his rule collapsed. He also allowed Perón to return to Argentina after 17 years of forced exile. Lanusse was a candidate in the March 1973 election but failed to defeat his old Peronist adversaries and never returned to public office. He denounced the violence of the 1976-83 regime of army hardliners and in 1985 testified against the deposed rulers during their trial for human rights violations. A committed anti-Peronist, he was an outspoken critic of the government of Pres. Carlos Menem. He served 10 days of house arrest in 1994 after accusing Menem of being "frivolous" and a "womanizer" in a magazine interview.

Lanusse, Pablo (b. Nov. 4, 1965, Buenos Aires), federal interventor in Santiago del Estero (2004-05); son of a cousin of Alejandro Agustín Lanusse.

Lapa, José de Almeida e Vasconcelos (Soveral de Carvalho da Maia Soares de Albergaria), barão de Moçâmedes, visconde da (b. 1737 - d. 18...), governor of Angola (1784-90). He became barão de Moçâmedes on Aug. 13, 1779, and visconde da Lapa on Feb. 8, 1805.

Lapang

Lapang, D(onwa) D(ethwelson) (b. April 10, 1934), chief minister of Meghalaya (1992-93, 2003-06, 2007-08, 2009-10).

Lapelin, François Théodore de (b. Dec. 11, 1812, Buxières-sous-Montaigut, Puy-de-Dôme, France - d. Jan. 12, 1888, Paris, France), governor of Martinique (1864-67).

Lapian, B(ernard) W(ilhelm) (b. June 30, 1892, Kawangkoan, Netherlands East Indies [now in Sulawesi Utara, Indonesia] - d. April 5, 1977, Jakarta, Indonesia), governor of Sulawesi (1950-51).

Lapie, Pierre-Olivier (b. April 2, 1901, Rennes, Ille-et-Vilaine, France - d. March 10, 1994, Paris, France), chef de territoire of Chad (1941-42) and French minister of national education (1950-52).

Lapli

Lapshin

Lapli, Sir John (Ini) (baptized June 24, 1955), governor-general of the Solomon Islands (1999-2004). An Anglican priest, he was premier of Temotu province (1988-99) and in May 1999 was elected governor-general by the parliament, polling 25 votes while the sitting governor-general, Sir Moses Pitakaka, received only 2. He was knighted in 1999.

Lapshin, Mikhail (Ivanovich) (b. Sept. 1, 1934, Setovka, Altay kray, Russian S.F.S.R. - d. June 17, 2006, Moscow), head of the republic of Altay (2002-06).

Laptev, Adolf (Fyodorovich) (b. Nov. 18, 1935, Ivanovo, Russian S.F.S.R. - d. Nov. 16, 2005), head of the administration of Ivanovo oblast (1991-96).

Lar, Solomon (Daushep) (b. April 1933), governor of Plateau (1979-83).

Laraki, (Moulay) Ahmed (b. Oct. 15, 1931, Casablanca), foreign minister (1967-71, 1974-77) and prime minister (1969-71) of Morocco.

Laraki, Azzedine (b. 1929, Fès, Morocco - d. Feb. 1, 2010), prime minister of Morocco (1986-92) and secretary-general of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (1997-2000). He was also national education minister (1977-86) and deputy prime minister (1986).

Larco Cox, Guillermo (b. Feb. 19, 1932 - d. July 13, 2002), prime minister (1987-88, 1989-90) and foreign minister (1989-90) of Peru.

Lardi

Larminat

Lardi, Claudio (b. May 21, 1955, Poschiavo, Graubünden, Switzerland), president of the government of Graubünden (2002, 2006, 2010).

Largeau, (Victor) Emmanuel (Étienne) (b. June 11, 1867, Irun, Spain - d. [killed in action] March 27, 1916, Avocourt, Meuse, France), acting administrator (1902) and commandant (1903-04, 1906-08, 1911-12, 1913-15) of Chad.

Larifla, Dominique (b. July 6, 1936, Petit-Bourg, Guadeloupe), president of the General Council of Guadeloupe (1985-98).

Larminat, (René Marie) Edgard de (b. Nov. 29, 1895, Alès, Gard, France - d. [suicide] July 1, 1962, Paris), acting governor-general of French Equatorial Africa (1940).

Laroche, Hippolyte (Joseph) (b. Jan. 26, 1848, Lyon, France - d. Sept. 14, 1914, Le Mans, Sarthe, France), resident-general of Madagascar (1896).

Laroche, John Déjoie (b. March 5, 1861, Cap-Haïtien, Haiti - d. Dec. 15, 1921, Cap-Haïtien), member of the Council of Secretaries of Haiti (1912).

Larosière (de Champfeu), Jacques (Martin Henri Marie) de (b. Nov. 12, 1929, Paris), president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (1993-98).

LaRouche

LaRouche, Lyndon (Hermyle, Jr.) (b. Sept. 8, 1922, Rochester, N.H.), U.S. politician. In 1948 he began an association with the leftist Socialist Workers Party that lasted until the 1960s; he and a group of followers later formed the United States Labor Party. Under this party's banner, he ran for president in 1976, receiving 40,043 votes out of more than 80 million cast. In 1980, having formed the National Democratic Policy Committee, he ran in ten Democratic primaries, collecting 177,784 votes. In 1984 he took 121,276 votes in the primary and then ran as an independent in November, winning 78,807 votes. In 1988 he polled only 25,562 votes, and in 1992, 26,333. In March 1986 two followers of the conspiracy-obsessed presidential aspirant won Democratic primary races for secretary of state and lieutenant governor of Illinois. Since under Illinois law the candidates for governor and lieutenant governor must run as a team, the gubernatorial candidate quit the Democratic slate and formed a third party. Although the "LaRouchies" failed in the general election in November, startled Democrats nationwide feared that xenophobia, anti-Semitism, and panic peddling had found acceptance among their voters. Voters who lived in fear of the drug lobby, the Israeli Mafia, a Swiss-controlled grain cartel, and Soviet agents spreading AIDS found their man in LaRouche. People who contributed to LaRouche-affiliated organizations found themselves hounded by campaign workers to give more money to his cause. In October 1986 ten of his associates were indicted for defrauding a thousand contributors of more than $1 million. He himself was sentenced to 15 years in prison for conspiracy to defraud in 1988 but was released after serving five years.

Larrazábal

Larrazábal (Ugueto), Wolfgang (Enrique) (b. March 5, 1911, Carúpano, Venezuela - d. Feb. 27, 2003, Caracas), president of Venezuela (1958). Rear Admiral Larrazábal was the head of an 11-month transitional government that took over after the overthrow of Gen. Marcos Pérez Jiménez, Venezuela's last military dictator. The temporary government led Venezuela toward democratic elections, ushering in four decades of democracy. Larrazábal ran for president in the 1958 elections but narrowly lost to Rómulo Betancourt. He had another unsuccessful presidential bid in 1963.

Larriva (González), Guadalupe (b. July 28, 1956, Cuenca, Ecuador - d. Jan. 24, 2007, near Manta, Ecuador), defense minister of Ecuador (2007). She was formerly president of Ecuador's Socialist Party and head of the nation's teachers union. She was the country's first woman defense minister. Just nine days after taking office, she was killed, along with her daughter and five soldiers, when two helicopters collided during manoeuvres to mark the 53rd anniversary of army aviation in Ecuador.

Larsen, Cecil Hector Watson (b. 1908? - d. Aug. 16, 1953, Niue), resident commissioner of Niue (1943-53). He jailed hundreds of Niueans for drinking alcohol (something white officials did), gambling, adultery, and even if a single couple held hands in public. Sentences were set in accordance with the labour requirements of his public works department. He beat prisoners. Finally prisoners staged a mass breakout and three of them - Tamaeli, Latoatama, and Folitolu - went to his house and hacked him to death as he lay in his bed. The three surrendered to police and a trial was staged, timed to be completed before the monthly ship sailed away. They were found guilty and sentenced to death. The queen mother signed the death warrant for the three but at the last moment the sentences were commuted to life imprisonment and they were flown back from New Zealand, sitting on the gallows that were to hang them.

Larsen, Gunnar A(lf) (b. Dec. 27, 1919, Oslo, Norway - d. Dec. 24, 2003, Oslo), governor of Buskerud (1969-79) and Oslo and Akershus (1979-89).

Larsen, Vibeke (b. June 20, 1944, Tønder, Denmark), high commissioner of the Faeroe Islands (1995-2001) and director of the state administration of Sjælland (2007- ).

Lasahido

Lasahido, Galib (b. Jan. 3, 1926, Poso, Sulawesi Tengah), governor of Sulawesi Tengah (1981-86).

Lascuraín Paredes, Pedro (José Domingo de la Calzada Manuel María) (b. May 8, 1856, Mexico City - d. July 21, 1952, Mexico City), foreign minister (1912-13) and interim president (1913) of Mexico.

Lasic, Viktor (b. July 22, 1968), premier of West Hercegovina (2003-06).

Lassalle

Lassalle, Ferdinand (b. April 11, 1825, Breslau, Prussia [now Wroclaw, Poland] - d. Aug. 31, 1864, near Geneva, Switzerland), German socialist. The spelling of his name (he was the son of Heymann Lasal, or Loslauer) dates from a stay in Paris in 1846. He took part in the liberal revolution of 1848-49, in which the middle class sought to attain a constitutional monarchy granting such civil rights as freedom of assembly and freedom of the press. During this time he established contact with Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, the socialist leaders. When Lassalle urged the militia to open revolt in November 1848, he was arrested and held in prison until his trial in July 1849. In the period of reaction that followed the abortive revolution, he traveled abroad; in 1857 he went back to Berlin, and in 1859 he settled permanently in the capital, where he became active as a political journalist. He now believed that only a legal and evolutionary approach could hold hopes of success. With this goal in mind he held discussions with the Prussian prime minister Otto von Bismarck in 1863-64, but the Prussian government remained utterly unreceptive to his ideas. He then began agitating in workingmen's associations in order to make his political aims known to the masses. When the ADAV (Allgemeiner Deutscher Arbeiterverein, or General German Workers' Association) was founded on May 23, 1863, in Leipzig, he was elected its president for a five-year term. His travels resembled a triumphal procession, though some associates rebelled against his authoritarian leadership and the cult of his personality which he did nothing to discourage. His generally incendiary speeches were often followed by lawsuits. His career was suddenly ended when he was killed in a duel over a love affair.

Lässer

Lastiri

Lässer, Claude (b. Aug. 29, 1949, Payerne, Vaud, Switzerland), president of the Council of State of Fribourg (2003, 2009).

Lastiri, Raúl Alberto (b. Sept. 11, 1915, Buenos Aires - d. 1978), acting president of Argentina (1973).

Lastman

Lastman, Mel(vin Douglas) (b. March 9, 1933, Kensington Market, Toronto), mayor of Toronto (1998-2003). He was mayor of North York for 25 years (1972-97) before it amalgamated with the rest of Toronto. He won the 1997 election for mayor of Toronto with 52% of the vote and was reelected in 2000 with 80%. In January 2003 he announced he would not seek another term. The city grew in global prominence during Lastman's two terms, hosting major international events such as the 2002 World Youth Day with Pope John Paul II. Lastman, however, was best known for his missteps. Canadians chuckled over his calling out the military to help cope with a 1999 ice storm. Then there was the unsuccessful paternity suit stemming from an affair Lastman had with a former furniture store employee decades earlier. An insensitive joke about Africa harmed Toronto's eventually failed bid to host the 2008 Olympics, and an outburst against the World Health Organization in a live interview on CNN during the 2003 SARS outbreak prompted ridicule from south of the border.

Latasi, Kamuta (b. 1936), prime minister of Tuvalu (1993-96). In 2006 he became speaker of parliament.

Latham

Latham, Mark (William) (b. Feb. 28, 1961, Sydney, N.S.W.), Australian politician. He entered local politics when he won a seat on the city council of Liverpool, a suburb of Sydney, in 1987. He became mayor in 1991 and held that post until 1994. Turning to federal politics, he won a by-election for the western Sydney seat of Werriwa in January 1994. His aggressiveness in parliament won him some fans. He once referred to Prime Minister John Howard as an "arselicker," and labelled U.S. Pres. George W. Bush as "the most incompetent and dangerous president in living memory." Labor leader Simon Crean promoted Latham to the party's front bench and in June 2003 named him shadow treasurer and manager of opposition business in the House of Representatives, effectively making him heir apparent to the party leadership. As Latham's star rose, Crean's faded, and Crean stepped aside in November 2003. Latham found himself facing former leader Kim Beazley, but prevailed by two votes. At the age of 42, he was Labor's youngest leader since John Christian Watson in 1901. He moved quickly to heal wounds in the party, appointing Crean as shadow treasurer and also retaining several key Beazley supporters in senior posts. However, the election of October 2004 was lost, and his position became shaky. In January 2005 he resigned, both as leader and as MP, citing health reasons.

Latinwo, Salaudeen (Adebola) (b. 1943), governor of Kwara (1984-85).

Latorre Alcubierre, Pedro (b. June 2, 1900, Lanaja, Aragón, Spain - d. June 3, 1995, Zaragoza, Spain), governor-general of Spanish Sahara (1961-64) and high commissioner of Equatorial Guinea (1964-66).

E. Latorre

Latorre Rodríguez, Eduardo (b. Dec. 12, 1941, Santo Domingo - d. June 16, 2003, Miami, Fla.), foreign minister of the Dominican Republic (1996-2000).

Latortue

Latortue, Gérard (R.) (b. June 19, 1934, Gonaïves, Haiti), foreign minister (1988) and prime minister (2004-06) of Haiti; son-in-law of Mauclair Zephirin. He fled the François Duvalier regime in 1963 and joined the United Nations Organization for Industrial Development, eventually rising to chief negotiator and working in Vienna. He returned to Haiti again in 1988 to join the government of Leslie Manigat as foreign minister, only to flee again when the army staged a coup four months later. After returning to the UN, he eventually moved to South Florida in July 1994 and was a talk-show host on the Haitian Television Network in Miami. He was chosen prime minister after two days of painstaking deliberations by a U.S.-backed "council of sages" to fill the power vacuum created Feb. 29, 2004, when Pres. Jean-Bertrand Aristide was forced into exile.

Latrille, André (Jean Gaston) (b. Dec. 20, 1894, Auch, Gers, France - d. Nov. 10, 1987, Neuilly-sur-Seine, near Paris, France), governor of Oubangui-Chari (1942), Chad (1942-43), and Ivory Coast (1943-45, 1946-47).

Lattre

Lattre de Tassigny, Jean (Joseph Marie Gabriel) de (b. Feb. 2, 1889, Mouilleron-en-Pareds, Vendée, France - d. Jan. 11, 1952, Paris), high commissioner of French Indochina (1950-52). Serving in World War I he was awarded eight citations to the Croix de Guerre. In the interwar period, he participated in Moroccan campaigns and served as commander of the 151st Infantry at Metz and as chief of staff of the Fifth Army. During World War II, General de Lattre commanded the 14th Division of Infantry and in May-June 1940 was a thorn in the side of the advancing Germans. Vichy in September 1941 appointed him commander in Tunisia, where he disposed the Vichy forces to cut off a German retreat; in January 1942 he was recalled to France. When the Germans moved to occupy the whole country, he kept the small port of Sète open for the escape of anti-Nazis. Captured by the Germans, he was condemned, on Jan. 9, 1943, to ten years in prison. He escaped from Riom prison on Sept. 2, 1943, by sawing the bars of his cell and climbing down a rope that his son had thrown over the walls. A British plane picked him up and flew him to England. On December 22 he reached Algiers, where he placed himself at the disposal of Gen. Charles de Gaulle, president of the French Committee of National Liberation. He commanded the French forces in the Allied assault on Elba in June 1944, then led his troops in storming Corsica. In August he commanded the First French Army, which made a large contribution to the final Allied victory. After the war he served as inspector-general and chief of staff of the French Army and commander of Western European Union ground forces, and was finally dispatched to Indochina, where he halted a Viet Minh offensive in 1951. He was posthumously promoted to maréchal de France.

Latypov

Latyshev

Latypov, Ural (Ramdrakevich), Belarusian spelling Latypau (b. Feb. 28, 1951, Katayevo village, Bashkir A.S.S.R., Russian S.F.S.R.), foreign minister of Belarus (1998-2000).

Latyshev, Pyotr (Mikhailovich) (b. Aug. 30, 1948, Khmelnitsky, Ukrainian S.S.R. - d. Dec. 2, 2008, Moscow, Russia), plenipotentiary of the president in Uralsky federal district (2000-08).

Laugerud

Laugerud García, Kjell Eugenio (b. Jan. 24, 1930, Guatemala City, Guatemala - d. Dec. 9, 2009, Guatemala City), president of Guatemala (1974-78). He rose to prominence by way of the Politécnica, Guatemala's military academy, where he eventually became superintendent in 1965. He later served as military attaché in the U.S. and, during the term of Pres. Carlos Arana Osorio (1970-74), was chief of the army staff and defense minister. General Laugerud's election as president in March 1974 was followed by violence and charges of fraud. He was the candidate of the combined Movimiento de Liberación Nacional and the Partido Institucional Democrático, a mildly rightist coalition that had elected Arana four years earlier. He announced an economic austerity program but retained many of his predecessor's cabinet ministers. He pressed Guatemala's claim to neighbouring Belize but was hindered by international opposition; in 1977 he broke diplomatic relations with Panama over the issue. Following a disastrous earthquake in 1976, he obtained loans from the Inter-American Development Bank, the World Bank, and the International Development Association for the construction of roads, hospitals, and electric lines and the promotion of the fishing and construction industries. He managed the distribution of relief supplies and maintained order with commendable efficiency. But the disaster only brought a temporary unity; the political unrest which accompanied his election continued to grow during his four-year term. Amnesty International repeatedly condemned the actions of the White Hand, a right-wing civilian death squad with some paramilitary elements, and charged that he tacitly condoned the terrorism. In 1983 he was forced, along with three other ex-presidents, to retire from the army.

Laugier, (Jean Joseph Marie) Léonce (b. March 26, 1829, Draguignan, Var, France - d. ...), governor of French India (1879-81) and Guadeloupe (1881-86).

Laupepa, Malietoa (b. 1841, Sapapalili, Savai'i, Samoa - d. Aug. 22, 1898, Sapapalili), king of Samoa (1875, 1875-76, 1880-87, 1889-98).

J.P. Laurel

Laurel (y Garcia), José P(aciano) (b. March 9, 1891, Tanauan, Batangas province, Luzon, Philippines - d. Nov. 6, 1959, Manila), president of the Philippines (1943-45). He became interior secretary in 1923, was elected to the Senate in 1925 and appointed associate justice of the Supreme Court in 1936. After the Pearl Harbor attack (1941), he stayed in Manila after Pres. Manuel Quezon escaped first to Bataan and then to the United States. He offered his services to the Japanese; and because of his criticism of U.S. rule of the Philippines he held a series of high posts in 1942-43, climaxing in his selection as president in 1943. Twice in that year he was shot by Philippine guerrillas but recovered. In 1945 the Japanese moved Laurel and his cabinet to Tokyo. At the war's end Gen. Douglas MacArthur's military government imprisoned them as collaborators. In 1946 Laurel was brought back to the Philippines and was charged with 132 counts of treason. He was set free by an amnesty proclamation signed by Pres. Manuel Roxas in January 1948. In 1949 he was the Nationalist Party's nominee for the presidency of the Republic of the Philippines, but he was narrowly defeated by the incumbent president, Elpidio Quirino, nominee of the Liberal Party. He charged that he had been cheated out of the presidency, and there was solid evidence to support the claim. Elected to the Senate in 1951, he helped to persuade Ramon Magsaysay, then secretary of defense, to desert the Liberals and join the Nationalists. When Magsaysay became president, Laurel headed an economic mission that in 1955 negotiated an agreement to improve economic relations with the United States. He retired from public life in 1957 shortly after his senatorial term expired.

Laurel, Salvador (Hidalgo), byname Doy Laurel (b. Nov. 18, 1928, Tanauan, Batangas province, Luzon, Philippines - d. Jan. 27, 2004, Atherton, Calif.), premier (1986), foreign secretary (1986-87), and vice president (1986-92) of the Philippines; son of José P. Laurel. A stalwart of the Nationalist Party, one of the oldest political parties in the country, he put aside his presidential ambitions so that Corazon Aquino could be the opposition's frontrunner in the February 1986 snap elections. The Aquino-Laurel tandem claimed they were cheated by Pres. Ferdinand Marcos and led a wave of nonviolent protests, worsening a political storm that culminated in the ouster of Marcos. In 1989 Laurel became leader of the opposition Nationalist Party. He ran for president in 1992 but lost to Fidel Ramos. In March 2003 graft charges, dating from 1996-97, were filed against him, but in June he was allowed to seek medical treatment in the U.S.

Laurier

Laurier, Sir (Henry Charles) Wilfrid (b. Nov. 20, 1841, Saint-Lin, Canada East [now Quebec], Canada - d. Feb. 17, 1919, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada), prime minister of Canada (1896-1911). In 1871 he was elected to the provincial legislature of Quebec and in 1874 to the Canadian House of Commons, of which he remained a member until his death. As he gradually rose to become minister of inland revenue (1877-78) and eventually leader of the opposition Liberal Party in 1887, he persistently sought to bring together his countrymen on the dominant themes of Canadian politics: the relations of church and state, the bicultural entente between French- and English-speaking Canadians, and the country's association with the British Empire and relations with the United States. Because of his skillful statesmanship, the cold antagonism between conservative churchmen and liberal politicians began to thaw; after 1896 no anticlerical ever attained important public office and no cleric officially interfered in politics. In mid-1896, with the Conservative government divided and disorganized, he easily carried the Liberal Party to victory in the general election and became Canada's first Francophone prime minister. His years in office became a boom period for which he himself provided the slogan: "The Twentieth Century belongs to Canada." In 1897, 1902, 1907, and 1911 he attended Imperial Conferences at which he steadily resisted British proposals for closer ties that might commit Canada to defense responsibilities. His government was defeated in the 1911 election, when a proposed reciprocity treaty with the United States was the paramount issue. He spent his remaining years as leader of the opposition. He was knighted in 1897.

Lauriston, Jean Law, baron de (b. Oct. 5, 1719, Paris - d. July 16, 1797, Paris), governor of French India (1765-66, 1767-77).

Lauritzen, Peter (b. Dec. 8, 1959, Århus, Denmark), high commissioner of Greenland (2002-05).

Laussat, Pierre Clément de (b. Nov. 23, 1756, Pau, France - d. April 2, 1835, Bernadets, Morlaas commune, Basses-Pyrénées [now Pyrénées-Atlantiques], France), governor of Louisiana (1803) and French Guiana (1819-23).

Lauti

Lauti, Sir Toaripi, original name Toalipi Lauti (b. Nov. 28, 1928, Gulf District, Papua), chief minister (1975-78), prime minister (1978-81), and governor-general (1990-93) of Tuvalu. He acted on occasion as a mediator in industrial disputes in the phosphate industry at Ocean Island and Nauru, where Gilbertese and Ellice Islanders were employed. In 1962 he was appointed labour and training officer at Nauru for the British Phosphate Commissioners (and later for the Nauru Phosphate Corp.). Antipathy between Gilbertese and Ellice Islanders grew in the 1960s and early 1970s, with the disproportionate representation of Ellice Islanders in education and employment as the most divisive issue. As the Ellice Islanders began to plan a separate future, Lauti, as one who was well educated, had exercised considerable behind-the-scenes political leadership over two decades. He left his position in the Nauruan phosphate industry in 1974, when he was elected unopposed from his home island of Funafuti to the legislature of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony. The Ellice Islands seceded to become Tuvalu in October 1975 and Lauti was elected chief minister by a comfortable margin and was reelected in September 1977. Tuvalu was granted independence on Oct. 1, 1978. At ease in both Tuvalu and Western societies, Lauti was generally perceived as the most suitable leader for the new nation. He changed the spelling of his first name in 1980 and was knighted in 1990.

Lauzun, Armand Louis de Gontaut, duc de, (from 1788) duc de Biron (b. April 13, 1747, Paris - d. [executed] Dec. 31, 1793, Paris), governor of Senegal (1779).

Laval

Laval, Pierre (Jean Marie) (b. June 28, 1883, Châteldon, Puy-de-Dôme, France - d. Oct. 15, 1945, Fresnes, Val-de-Marne, France), prime minister of France (1931-32, 1935-36, 1942-44). In 1914, on the eve of World War I, he was elected as a deputy for Aubervilliers on the Socialist ticket, but his political career was interrupted by service at the front. He shared the views of Joseph Caillaux on the necessity of a compromise peace with Germany, believing this would be less costly than victory. In the 1919 election he was defeated. Leaving the Socialist ranks in 1920, he was elected again in 1924 as a Republican. In 1927 he was elected to the Senate. In December 1930 he was first asked to form a government; he failed, but after the fall of the short-lived Théodore Steeg ministry in January 1931, he succeeded. He was also public works minister (1925), justice minister (1926), labour minister (1930, 1932), interior minister (1931-32, 1942-44), foreign minister (1932, 1934-36, 1940, 1942-44), minister of colonies (1934), deputy prime minister (1940-41), minister of state (1940), and information minister (1942-44). By 1939 he was again an exponent of peace with Germany, predicting that France could not stand up under the ordeal of another war. After the collapse of France in June 1940, he fought against suggestions to move the seat of government to Africa and continue the war in alliance with Britain, urging instead the conclusion of an armistice on the basis of capitulation. He was included in the Vichy government of Marshal Philippe Pétain. Though Pétain dismissed him in December 1940, charging him of conspiracy to establish his own dictatorship, he returned to power in 1942. In 1945 he was condemned to death as a traitor and executed by firing squad.

Lavaud, Charles François (b. March 25, 1798, Lorient, Morbihan, France - d. March 14, 1878, Brest, Finistère, France), governor of the French Settlements in Oceania (1847-50).

Lavaud, Franck (b. Feb. 16, 1903, Jérémie, Haiti - d. late 1986, Paris, France), chairman of the Military Executive Council (1946) and of the Government Junta (1950) of Haiti.

Laveaux, Étienne Maynaud Bizefranc, comte de (b. 1751 - d. 1828), governor-general of Saint-Domingue (1793-96) and co-agent of Guadeloupe (1799-1800).

Lavín

Lavrov

Lavín (Infante), Joaquín (José) (b. Oct. 23, 1953, Santiago, Chile), Chilean presidential candidate (1999, 2005) for the right-wing Alliance for Chile coalition (including National Renewal and his Independent Democratic Union). Between his two candidacies he was mayor of Santiago (2000-04).

Lavit, Fernand (Marie Joseph Antoine) (b. 1872 - d. 1956), lieutenant governor of Chad (1921-23) and resident-superior of Cambodia (1929-32).

Lavradio, António de Almeida Soares e Portugal, (4º) conde de Avintes, (1º) conde e (1º) marquês do (b. Nov. 4, 1699 - d. 1761, Bahia, Brazil), governor of Angola (1749-53) and viceroy of Brazil (1760). He became conde do Lavradio on Jan. 17, 1725, and marquês on Oct. 18, 1753.

Lavrov, Sergey (Viktorovich) (b. March 21, 1950, Moscow), foreign minister of Russia (2004- ). He joined the foreign service in 1972, serving first as attaché at the Soviet embassy in Sri Lanka (1972-76). Later he was deputy foreign minister (1992-94) and permanent representative of Russia at the United Nations (1994-2004), where he spearheaded Moscow's opposition to the U.S.-led war on Iraq in 2003.

Law

Law, (Andrew) Bonar (b. Sept. 16, 1858, Kingston, N.B., Canada - d. Oct. 30, 1923, London), British prime minister (1922-23). Elected to the House of Commons in 1900, he adhered to the Conservative Party's imperialist faction led by Joseph Chamberlain, whose illness (from 1906) left Law and Chamberlain's son Austen as the leading advocates of a protective tariff. When Arthur James Balfour resigned as Conservative leader in 1911, the deadlock between the leading candidates for the succession, Austen Chamberlain and Walter Long, was broken by their withdrawal in favour of Law, a compromise candidate, who was elected unanimously on November 13. On May 25, 1915, he became colonial secretary in the wartime coalition government that he had virtually forced H.H. Asquith to lead. He took part in the intrigues resulting in Asquith's resignation on Dec. 5, 1916, but when asked by King George V to form a government, he recommended instead David Lloyd George. In Lloyd George's government, Law became leader of the House of Commons, a member of the war cabinet, and chancellor of the exchequer, in which capacity he astutely managed war-loan and war-bond programs. Exchanging the chancellorship for the office of lord privy seal on Jan. 10, 1919, he remained leader of the Commons until March 1921, when ill health forced him to resign his offices. On Oct. 19, 1922, at a party meeting in the Carlton Club, London, Law spoke against another coalition government. Lloyd George at once resigned, taking with him most of the leading Tories in the government. Law then formed a Conservative government, which in November 1922 was approved by a comfortable majority of voters. He resigned in May 1923 because of a terminal illness of which he died later in the year.

Lawal, Adekunle (Shamusideen) (b. 1934 - d. ...), governor of Lagos (1975-77) and Imo (1977-78).

Lawal, Mohammed (Alabi) (b. Jan. 24, 1946, Ilorin [now in Kwara state], Nigeria - d. Nov. 15, 2006, London, England), governor of Ogun (1987-90) and Kwara (1999-2003).

C. Lawrence

Lawrence, Carmen (Mary) (b. March 2, 1948, Northam, Western Australia), premier of Western Australia (1990-93). After being elected to the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia in 1986 for the Australian Labor Party (ALP), she became education minister in 1988 and premier and treasurer in 1990 (the first female state premier in Australia), but her party was defeated at the 1993 elections. After a very short stint in opposition as shadow treasurer and shadow minister for employment, she seized an opportunity to enter national politics, entering the federal parliament through a by-election on March 12, 1994. Prime Minister Paul Keating put her on the fast track into the cabinet, which she joined as minister of health on March 25, less than two weeks after she entered parliament. It seemed only a matter of time before she became the nation's first woman prime minister, but from that time forward she was under constant fire from her former political enemies in the west. The Conservative state government of Western Australia led by Premier Richard Court in 1995 set up a royal commission, which, many observers agreed, soon turned into a witch-hunt intended to destroy her political career. The commission was ordered to investigate whether Lawrence had made improper use of executive power in connection with the tabling of a petition in the Western Australian parliament in 1992 which involved allegations of perjury against one Penny Easton who committed suicide a few days later. Lawrence was driven to the brink of resignation but Keating supported her. However, the affair may have contributed to the ALP's defeat in the 1996 federal election. She served on the opposition frontbench in 1996-97 and 2000-02 and was national president of the ALP in 2004-05.

Lawrence, Sir Henry (Montgomery) (b. June 28, 1806, Matara, Ceylon [now Sri Lanka] - d. July 4, 1857, Lucknow, India), British resident in Nepal (1843-45); knighted 1848. He was wounded by a shell on July 2, 1857, during the Sepoy Mutiny, and died two days later.

Lawrence, John Laird Mair Lawrence, (1st) Baron (b. March 4, 1811, Richmond, Yorkshire, England - d. June 27, 1879, London), chief commissioner (1853-59) and lieutenant governor (1859) of Punjab and viceroy of India (1864-69); brother of Sir Henry Lawrence. He was knighted in 1856 and created a baron in 1869.

Lawson

Lawson of Blaby, Nigel (Thomas) Lawson, Baron (b. March 11, 1932, Hampstead, north London), British politician. He came into politics after making a notable reputation for himself as a financial journalist on the Financial Times and Sunday Telegraph and, while still in his 30s, as editor (1966-70) of the weekly political magazine Spectator. But it was not until 1974, at the age of 41, that he was able to find a seat in Parliament, where he quickly established a reputation as one of the brightest and most confident, but also most abrasive and sometimes arrogant, of Conservative MPs. By 1977, he had won his way into Margaret Thatcher's circle of economic advisers. He held the middle ranking post of financial secretary to the treasury (1979-81) and then moved on to become minister of energy, giving him a place in the cabinet. His approach to energy policy was focused mainly on plans for the selling of energy undertakings in the public sector to private enterprise. Thatcher picked Lawson, the most absolutist of the monetarists in her inner circle of favoured ministers, to take over the treasury as chancellor of the exchequer in the reconstruction of the government that followed the June 1983 election. On March 15, 1988, he unveiled a bold budget, reforming personal taxation. His measures included a reduction in the standard rate of income tax from 27 to 25% and a cut in the top rate from 60 to 40%. Critics accused him of giving money to the rich rather than using it to alleviate poverty or tackle social problems. Lawson, however, said that the extra incentives to high-earners would do the economy more good and eventually generate a higher tax yield. He resigned in 1989 and was made a life peer in 1992.

Lawzi, Ahmad (`Abd al-Karim) al- (b. 1925, Jubeiha, near Amman, Jordan), finance minister (1970-71) and prime minister (1971-73) of Jordan.

Layne, Tamrat, Tamrat also spelled Tamirat (b. 1955), prime minister (1991-95) and deputy prime minister and defense minister (1995-96) of Ethiopia. He was arrested for corruption and abuse of office in 1996 and sentenced to 18 years in prison on March 14, 2000.

Layrle, (Marie) Jean-François (b. May 6, 1791, Port-Louis, Morbihan, France - d. 1881), governor of French Guiana (1843-45) and Guadeloupe (1845-48).

Lázár, György (b. Sept. 15, 1924, Isaszeg, Hungary), prime minister of Hungary (1975-87).

Lazarenko

Lazarenko, Pavlo (Ivanovych) (b. Jan. 23, 1953, Karpovka village, Dnepropetrovsk oblast, Ukrainian S.S.R. [now Karpivka, Ukraine]), prime minister of Ukraine (1996-97). He rose to become governor of Dnepropetrovsk region, one of Ukraine's most powerful industrial areas. In September 1995 he became first deputy prime minister with special responsibility for the key energy sector. Known as a close ally to Pres. Leonid Kuchma (whose home town was Dnepropetrovsk), he was appointed prime minister in 1996. He devoted his term to establishing order in certain profitable spheres of the economy such as alcohol, tobacco, and gas distribution. He was linked by local media to the so-called "Dnepropetrovsk clan," a rival to the "Donetsk clan," also in eastern Ukraine. In July 1996 he narrowly escaped an assassination attempt as his car was blown up on its way to Kiev airport, where he planned to fly to Donetsk. Later he persuaded Kuchma to sack Donetsk's powerful governor, Volodymyr Shcherban, who was seen as Lazarenko's personal rival. His grip on power was slipping in June 1997, when Kuchma appointed First Deputy Prime Minister Vasyl Durdynets acting prime minister; Lazarenko resigned in July. He became head of the regional council in Dnepropetrovsk region, and in September he formed a new opposition party, Hromada (Community). He was indicted for alleged money-laundering in Switzerland on Dec. 4, 1998, two days after he was detained while entering the country near Basel with a Panamanian passport. He was freed on $3 million bail and returned to Ukraine, whose legislature voted in February 1999 to lift his parliamentary immunity, which would allow his arrest and the start of criminal proceedings. He then applied for political asylum in the U.S., but was detained by U.S. immigration authorities for visa irregularities. In June 2004 a court in San Francisco found him guilty on 29 charges including money laundering, fraud, and transportation of stolen property.

Lazovic, Miro (b. May 5, 1954, Ljubuski [now in Federation of Bosnia and Hercegovina]), chairman of the Assembly of Bosnia and Hercegovina (1992-97).