French military personnel of World War I

Raymond_Abescat

Raymond Abescat (10 September 1891 in Paris – 25 August 2001 in Rueil-Malmaison) was one of the last surviving veterans of World War I in France, its oldest living man and its oldest living veteran when he died aged 109 years, 349 days.

Norbert_Casteret

Norbert Casteret (19 August 1897 – 20 July 1987) was a famous French caver, adventurer and writer, and is one of the most recognisable names in caving worldwide. Following Édouard-Alfred Martel (the "father of modern speleology", although Casteret sometimes also enjoys this title), Casteret, along with Robert de Joly, became a leading figure of French speleology between the world wars and into the middle of the 20th century.

Boni_de_Castellane

Marie Ernest Paul Boniface de Castellane, Marquis de Castellane (February 14, 1867 – October 20, 1932), known as Boni de Castellane, was a French nobleman and politician. He was known as a leading Belle Époque tastemaker and the first husband of American railroad heiress Anna Gould.

Laurent_Eynac

Laurent Eynac (4 October 1886 – 16 December 1970) was a French politician who was appointed Minister of Transportation on 7 June 1935 until 24 January 1936. He was born in Le Monastier-sur-Gazeille, Haute-Loire.
In 1940 Eynac was appointed Minister of the Air in the government of Paul Reynaud. In this role he served as part of the War Committee put together at early in the Second World War and consisting of Reynaud, President Albert François Lebrun, Naval Minister César Campinchi, War Minister Édouard Daladier, Interior Minister Georges Mandel, Eynac as Air Minister, French Navy chief Admiral François Darlan, Chief of the Air Staff General Joseph Vuillemin and French Army generals Maurice Gamelin and Alphonse Joseph Georges.

Jacques_Vaché

Jacques Vaché (7 September 1895 – 6 January 1919) was a friend of André Breton, the founder of surrealism. Vaché was one of the chief inspirations behind the Surrealist movement. As Breton said:

"En littérature, je me suis successivement épris de Rimbaud, de Jarry, d'Apollinaire, de Nouveau, de Lautréamont, mais c'est à Jacques Vaché que je dois le plus"("In literature, I was successively taken with Rimbaud, with Jarry, with Apollinaire, with Nouveau, with Lautréamont, but it is Jacques Vaché to whom I owe the most")He was born on 7 September 1895 in Lorient, France, and died in a hotel room in Nantes on 6 January 1919 from an overdose of opium. Alongside him lay the naked body of another French soldier. André Breton believed his death to be a suicide. He was known for his indifference and for wearing a monocle.

Édouard_Depreux

Édouard Gustave Depreux (31 October 1898 – 16 October 1981) was a French socialist journalist, essayist, and politician of the French Fourth Republic; he was born in Viesly (département of Nord) and died in Paris.

Marcel_Gromaire

Marcel Gromaire (24 July 1892 – 11 April 1971) was a French painter. He painted many works on social subjects and is often associated with Social Realism, but Gromaire can be said to have created an independent oeuvre distinct from groups and movements.

Benjamin_Péret

Benjamin Péret (4 July 1899 – 18 September 1959) was a French poet, Parisian Dadaist, and founder and central member of the French Surrealist movement with his avid use of Surrealist automatism.