Photo: Landesarchiv Saarbrücken, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons¹⁴

Gilbert Grandval

French Resistance activist (1904–1981)

Gilbert Grandval (born Gilbert Hirsch, subsequently Gilbert Hirsch-Ollendorff; 12 February 1904 – 29 November 1981) was a French Resistance activist who went on to become the military governor of the Saarland in 1945. He remained in post for a decade, although the nature of the job evolved and there were changes of title in 1948 and again in 1952 when he became, formally, the French ambassador to the Saarland.²

From Wikipedia’s article on Gilbert Grandval (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Born Feb 12, 1904, died Nov 29, 1981.¹

About

Subsequently, he became a government minister during the early years of the Fifth Republic.

Gilbert Grandval was the alias Hirsch-Ollendorff used from approximately 1943 while working with the Resistance. Subsequently, he was authorized permanently to substitute the Grandval name for the family name with which he had been born, both on his own account and on behalf of his father. The authorization came from a decree signed on 25 February 1946 by the President of the postwar provisional government, and officially transcribed at the appropriate town hall on 12 March 1948.

From Wikipedia’s article on Gilbert Grandval, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.²

Companies

Messageries MaritimesBoard member 1966 to 1972¹³
Messageries MaritimesPresident 1966 to 1972¹³

Early life and education

Date not recordedLycée Condorcet³

Provenance and early years

Yves Gilbert Edmond Hirsch was born at his parents' home along the Rue La Boétie in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. Edmond Hirsch (1873-), his father, was a book dealer who expanded the family business to include a publisher of school books. Gilbert's grandfather, Henri Hirsch (1829-) had also been a book dealer. The Hirsch family traced their origins back to Strasbourg, but after the frontier changes of 1871 they were given and took up the option of retaining French citizenship, which meant leaving Alsace.

His mother, born Jeanne Ollendorff (1880-), was the daughter of Paul Ollendorff (1851-1920), another book dealer, and a publisher who numbered Guy de Maupassant among his authors. It may have been on account of the name recognition than the Ollendorff family enjoyed that while he was still a child the family took to using the family name Hirsch-Ollendorff.

Gilbert Hirsch-Ollendorff was born into a Jewish family but with the post-revolutionary French state deeply committed to "Laïcité" he seems to have been able to carry his religion lightly: at some stage he converted to Roman Catholicism. Nevertheless, as Gilbert grew up the family was part of the city's Jewish intellectual community: their social circle included the family of Léon Blum, who also traced his family origins back to Alsace.

He received his schooling at the prestigious Lycée Condorcet, close to the family home. In compliance with his family's wishes he then embarked on the study of medicine. That study was interrupted between 1924 and 1926 when he was required to perform military service. He never returned to medicine. Instead he used his contacts to find work with Saint-Gobain, a major manufacturer of chemicals and glass-based products. He rose quickly through management ranks to become a sales director with the fertilizers division, based in Lyon. During the 1930s, like many upwardly mobile young executives, he obtained a pilot's license, apparently from motives which were, at the time, purely recreational and social.

From Wikipedia’s article on Gilbert Grandval (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Career

Occupation: ambassador, minister, diplomat, resistance fighter, politician.⁷

1966 to 1972President, Messageries Maritimes⁴
1966 to 1972Board member, Messageries Maritimes⁵
1962 to 1966Minister of labor⁶
Date not recordedAmbassador⁶

Personal life

BornFeb 12, 1904, 8th arrondissement of Paris⁸
DiedNov 29, 1981, Saint-Cloud⁹
CitizenshipFrance¹⁰

Awards

1964Grand Cross of the Order of Civil Merit¹¹
1955Grand Cross of the Order of Wissam Alaouite^{11 12}
Date not recordedCommander of the Order of Maritime Merit¹¹
Date not recordedCompanion of the Liberation¹¹
Date not recordedCroix de guerre 1939–1945¹¹
Date not recordedGrand Officer of the Legion of Honour¹¹
Date not recordedLegion of Merit¹¹
Date not recordedOfficer of the French Order of Academic Palms¹¹
Date not recordedResistance Medal¹¹

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

1
WikidataGilbert Grandval on Wikidata
2
WikipediaGilbert Grandval on Wikipedia
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WikidataGilbert Grandval: education, on Wikidata
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WikidataGilbert Grandval: President, Messageries Maritimes, on Wikidata
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WikidataGilbert Grandval: Board member, Messageries Maritimes, on Wikidata
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WikidataGilbert Grandval: Ambassador, on Wikidata
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WikidataGilbert Grandval: occupation, on Wikidata
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WikidataGilbert Grandval: place of birth, on Wikidata
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WikidataGilbert Grandval: place of death, on Wikidata
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WikidataGilbert Grandval: citizenship, on Wikidata
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WikidataGilbert Grandval: award, on Wikidata
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Wikidataaward, as reported
13
WikidataMessageries Maritimes, Board member
14
Wikimedia CommonsGilbert Grandval photo by Landesarchiv Saarbrücken, CC BY-SA 3.0