Maurice Lemaire was a French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 Gaullist

Gaullism

Gaullism is a French political ideology based on the thought and action of Resistance leader then president Charles de Gaulle.-Foreign policy:...

 politician, born on 25 May 1895 at Gerbépal

Gerbépal

Gerbépal is a commune in the Vosges department in Lorraine in northeastern France.-External links:*...

 in the Vosges

Vosges

Vosges is a French department, named after the local mountain range. It contains the hometown of Joan of Arc, Domrémy.-History:The Vosges department is one of the original 83 departments of France, created on February 9, 1790 during the French Revolution. It was made of territories that had been...

 region: he died in Paris on 29 January 1979.

Lemaire’s background was as a railway engineer. He was the Director General of the SNCF

SNCF

The SNCF , is France's national state-owned railway company. SNCF operates the country's national rail services, including the TGV, France's high-speed rail network...

 following the liberation of France from German occupation. He was bald from an early age, and thereby acquired the nickname "Saint-Pierre-du-Gros-Caillou".

He represented the Vosges

Vosges

Vosges is a French department, named after the local mountain range. It contains the hometown of Joan of Arc, Domrémy.-History:The Vosges department is one of the original 83 departments of France, created on February 9, 1790 during the French Revolution. It was made of territories that had been...

 department in the National Assembly between 1951 and 1978. He occupied various senior regional political posts between 1947 and 1977, throughout which period Lemaire also served as the mayor of Colroy-la-Grande

Colroy-la-Grande

Colroy-la-Grande is a commune in the Vosges department in Lorraine in northeastern France.-References:*...

.

Nationally he achieved ministerial office under three of the Fourth Republic

French Fourth Republic

The French Fourth Republic was the republican government of France between 1946 and 1958, governed by the fourth republican constitution. It was in many ways a revival of the Third Republic, which was in place before World War II, and suffered many of the same problems...

 prime ministers as follows:

• Minister for Housing and Reconstruction under Joseph Laniel
  Joseph Laniel
  Joseph Laniel was a French conservative politician of the Fourth Republic, who served as Prime Minister for a year from 1953 to 1954. During the middle of his tenure as Prime Minister Laniel was an unsuccessful candidate for the French Presidency, a post won by René Coty...
  
   between 1953 and 1954.
• Minister for Housing and Reconstruction under Pierre Mendès France between 1954 and 1955 (with a break between August and November 1954).
• Secretary of State for Trade and Industry under Guy Mollet
  Guy Mollet
  Guy Mollet was a French Socialist politician. He led the French Section of the Workers' International party from 1946 to 1969 and was Prime Minister in 1956–1957.-Early life and World War II:...
  
   between 1956 and 1957.

During his political career, Maurice Lemaire promoted the modernization of the tunnel

Tunnel Maurice-Lemaire

The Tunnel Maurice-Lemaire, commonly known as the Tunnel de Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines is a former rail tunnel adapted to permit road traffic to drive between Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines and Saint-Dié without needing to drive over the top of a mountain pass. The tunnel is long, making it the longest road...

which carries his name.