\u00c9cole Sp\u00e9ciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr alumni

Henri Philippe Bénoni Omer Joseph Pétain (24 April 1856 – 23 July 1951), commonly known as Philippe Pétain (, French: [filip petɛ̃]) or Marshal Pétain (French: Maréchal Pétain), was a general who commanded the French Army in World War I and became the head of the collaborationist regime of Vichy France, from 1940 to 1944, during World War II.
Pétain was admitted to the Saint-Cyr Military Academy in 1873 and pursued a career in the military, achieving the rank of colonel by the outbreak of World War I. He led the French Army to victory at the nine-month-long Battle of Verdun, for which he was called "the Lion of Verdun" (French: le lion de Verdun). After the failed Nivelle Offensive and subsequent mutinies, he was appointed Commander-in-Chief and succeeded in restoring control. Pétain remained in command for the rest of the war and emerged as a national hero. During the interwar period he was head of the peacetime French Army, commanded joint Franco-Spanish operations during the Rif War and served twice as a government minister. During this time he was known as le vieux Maréchal ("the Old Marshal").
On 17 June 1940, with the imminent Fall of France and the government desire for an armistice, Prime Minister Paul Reynaud resigned, recommending to President Albert Lebrun that he appoint Pétain in his place, which he did that day, while the government was at Bordeaux. The government then resolved to sign armistice agreements with Germany and Italy. The entire government subsequently moved briefly to Clermont-Ferrand, then to the town of Vichy in central France. It voted to transform the French Third Republic into the French State, better known as Vichy France, an authoritarian puppet regime that was allowed to govern the southeast of France and which collaborated with the Axis powers. After Germany and Italy occupied all of France in November 1942, Pétain's government worked closely with the Nazi German military administration.
After the war, Pétain was tried and convicted for treason. He was originally sentenced to death, but due to his age and World War I service his sentence was commuted to life in prison. His journey from military obscurity, to hero of France during World War I, to collaborationist ruler during World War II, led his successor Charles de Gaulle to declare that Pétain's life was "successively banal, then glorious, then deplorable, but never mediocre".
Pétain, who was 84 years old when he became Prime Minister and later Chief of State, remains both the oldest person to become the head of government and the oldest person to become the head of state of France.

Louis Marie Joseph Le Beschu de Champsavin (24 November 1867 – 20 December 1916) was a French military officer and horse rider.

Marie Camille Armand de La Forgue de Bellegarde (29 March 1841 – 23 October 1905) was a French military officer and horse rider and instructor.
La Forgue de Bellegarde joined the French Army in 1860, enrolling at the École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr. Upon graduation, he was commissioned as a junior officer in the 2nd Chasseurs Regiment, becoming a lieutenant in 1968. Following the Franco-Prussian War, during which he was captured and taken prisoner, he became an instructor at Saint-Cyr, where he rose to the rank of général de brigade. He retired in 1904.Among his many honours, La Forgue de Bellegarde was appointed a Commandeur of the Legion d'Honneur, and Officier d'Académie, and commander of the Russian Order of St. Stanislaus.Bellegarde was born in Gap on 29 March 1841, the son of politician Calixte Joseph Camille de La Forgue de Bellegarde. He was married and had two sons. On 23 October 1905, he suffered a stroke and died at his home in Cellettes.Some sources report that La Forgue de Bellegarde competed in the equestrian events at the 1900 Olympic Games, finishing third in the long jump.

François-Henry Laperrine (born Marie Joseph François Henry Laperrine d'Hautpoul, September 29, 1860 – March 5, 1920) was a French general who served during World War I.

Philippe Rondot (5 October 1936 – 31 December 2017) was a French general, formerly an important personality of the French intelligence. He worked for both the domestic intelligence DST and the foreign intelligence DGSE (traditionally rival services) and was an aide to several Defence Ministers.

Jacques Guillermaz (16 January 1911 – 4 February 1998) was a French diplomat, military officer, and scholar of modern Chinese history. He served as military attaché in China from 1937 to 1943, then returned to fight for the liberation of France in 1943, served once more in China from 1945 to 1951, and went on to advise the French government on policy toward Asia. In 1958 he founded the Center for Research and Documentation on Modern and Contemporary China and wrote widely on modern Chinese affairs. He is particularly known for his studies of Chinese Communist Party history.His honors include reaching the rank of General in the French Army and receiving the Académie française Prix Albéric Rocheron in 1969 for Histoire du parti communiste chinois and again in 1973 for his book, Le parti communiste chinois au pouvoir.

Paul Béchard (25 December 1899, Alès – 26 April 1982) was a French politician. He represented the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO) in the Constituent Assembly elected in 1945, in the National Assembly from 1946 to 1948, from 1951 to 1955 and from 1958 to 1967 and in the Senate from 1955 to 1958. From January 27, 1948 to May 24, 1951 he was Governor of French West Africa. He was the mayor of Alès from 1947 to 1948 and from 1953 to 1965.

Bernard Saint-Hillier (29 December 1911 – 28 July 2004) was a French general.
Saint-Hillier graduated from Saint-Cyr in 1933 and was affected to the 11th Chasseurs alpins Battalion. In 1938, he joined the French Foreign Legion with the rank of captain. He sided with the Fighting French and took part in the East African Campaign with the 13th Foreign Legion Demi-Brigade.
In 1943, he was promoted to commandant, and to lieutenant-colonel in 1944. He took command of the 13th Foreign Legion Demi-Brigade on the 25 March 1945. From 1946, he was affected to the general staff of the Armed Forces, where he spent two years.
In 1951, he was promoted to colonel, and led the 18th paratrooper regiment, until he departed to Indochina in 1954. On his return, he studied at the Institut des hautes études de la défense nationale.
In 1958, Saint-Hillier was chief of the general staff in Constantine, Algeria. Promoted to general of brigade in 1959, he became chief of cabinet of the Minister of Defence. From 1960 to 1961, he commanded the 10th Parachute Division. He was French military representative to the European Allied command in 1962.
In 1965, he was promoted to general of division, and served as inspector of the staffs of the Army. Saint-Hillier was promoted to Général de corps d'armée in 1968, commanding the 3rd Military Region in Rennes, and sitting at the Conseil supérieur de la Guerre.
He retired in 1971.

Jacques Pâris de Bollardière (16 December 1907 – 22 February 1986) was a French Army general, famous for his advocacy of non-violence during the 1960s.

Henri Bentégeat (born 27 May 1946 in Talence, France) is a French Army general who served first as the Chief of the French Defence Staff between 2002 and 2006 and then as the chairman of the European Union Military Committee between 2006 and 2009.