Jean Louis Barthou /25 August 1862 – 9 October 1934/ was a French politician of the Third Republic who served as Prime Minister of France for eight months in 1913. In 1917 and in 1934, Barthou also served as Minister of Foreign Affairs.
As Foreign Minister, Barthou met King Alexander I of Yugoslavia during his state visit to Marseille in October 1934. On 9 October, King Alexander was assassinated by Velicko Kerin, a Bulgarian far-right nationalist terrorist wielding a handgun. Another bullet struck Barthou in the arm, passing through and fatally severing an artery. He died of blood-loss less than an hour later. The assassination had been planned in Rome by Ante Pavelić, head of the Croatian Ustaše, in August 1934. Pavelić was assisted by Georg Percevic, a former Austro-Hungarian Armed Forces officer. France unsuccessfully requested the extradition of Percevic and Pavelić. This assassination ended the careers of the Bouches-du-Rhone prefect, Pierre Jouhannaud, and of the director of the Surete Nationale, Jean Berthoin.
King Alexander of Yugoslavia and French foreign minister Louis Barthou just moments before they were both assassinated by a Bulgarian revolutionary in Marseille, France.
A ballistic report on the bullets found in the car was made in 1935, but its results were not made available to the public until 1974. The report revealed that Barthou had been hit by an 8 mm Modèle 1892 revolver round, commonly used in weapons carried by French police. Thus Barthou was killed during the frantic police response, rather than by the assassin.
