Louis de Maigret
Encyclopedia
Life and career
Born at his family estate Saint-Romain-sous-Versigny, he entered the officer school Saint-CyrÉcole Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr
The École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr is the foremost French military academy. Its official name is . It is often referred to as Saint-Cyr . Its motto is "Ils s'instruisent pour vaincre": literally "They study to vanquish" or "Training for victory"...
in 1935, and graduated with honours in 1937, promotion Maréchal Lyautey
Lyautey
Lyautey is the name of:*Hubert Lyautey, military governor and then Resident-General of then-French Morocco from 1907 through 1925*Port Lyautey, Morocco, named after Hubert Lyautey; now renamed Kenitra...
.
Believing in the colonial Empire's importance to France, de Maigret decided to follow Leclerc
Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque
Philippe François Marie, comte de Hauteclocque, then Leclerc de Hauteclocque, by a 1945 decree that incorporated his French Resistance alias Jacques-Philippe Leclerc to his name, , was a French general during World War II...
and joined the "Armée d'Afrique". At this time he refounded the Goumier
Goumier
Moroccan Goumiers were soldiers who served in auxiliary units attached to the French Army of Africa, between 1908 and 1956. The term Goumier was also occasionally used to designate native soldiers in the French army of the French Sudan and Upper Volta during the colonial era.-Description:The word...
s with General Guillaume. They then fought in Tunisia
Tunisia
Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
(1942–43), Italy, (1943–45), mainland France (1944) and Germany (1944–45), where they liberated Pforzheim
Pforzheim
Pforzheim is a town of nearly 119,000 inhabitants in the state of Baden-Württemberg, southwest Germany at the gate to the Black Forest. It is world-famous for its jewelry and watch-making industry. Until 1565 it was the home to the Margraves of Baden. Because of that it gained the nickname...
and Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
.
He next served with French forces occupying Germany after World War II, and fought again in Indochina
Indochina
The Indochinese peninsula, is a region in Southeast Asia. It lies roughly southwest of China, and east of India. The name has its origins in the French, Indochine, as a combination of the names of "China" and "India", and was adopted when French colonizers in Vietnam began expanding their territory...
, till 1954, when he was named a Lieutenant-Colonel and moved to Italy.
He then fought in French Algeria
French Algeria
French Algeria lasted from 1830 to 1962, under a variety of governmental systems. From 1848 until independence, the whole Mediterranean region of Algeria was administered as an integral part of France, much like Corsica and Réunion are to this day. The vast arid interior of Algeria, like the rest...
, where his anti-Gaullist politics made him renounce further promotion (to full colonel). De Maigret quit the army, saying directly to de Gaulle
Charles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....
: "This is not any more the France I want to serve."
He settled down in France on his family estates, for many years being one of the most decorated colonels of the French army.
He kept an excellent reputation and was known for keeping a wolf as a pet. He was also famous for his international friendship with "history makers", such as the last Emperor of Viet-Nam, Bảo Đại
Bảo Đài
Bảo Đài is a commune and village in Lục Nam District, Bac Giang Province, in northeastern Vietnam.-References:...
, and members of the European royal families.
Family
The Comte Louis de Maigret was son of Christian, Count de Maigret, one of the main heirs of the Moët & Chandon dynasty, and of Marie d'Anterroches, herself descendent of the famous Count d'Anterroches, one of the most important general in the Battle of FontenoyFontenoy
Fontenoy may refer to:*Battle of Fontenoy *Battle of Fontenay *Fontenoy by Liam Mac Cóil-Places:Belgium:*Fontenoy, a village in the municipality of Antoing, BelgiumSeveral communes in France:*Fontenoy, in the Aisne département...
against England.
The house de Maigret is an old French aristocratic family whose genealogy goes to the year 1307. Charles-Antoine de Maigret, Lord of Chavannes, had fled to the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
after having killed in duel the representant of the King of France around 1500. The Maigret then established in Limburg
Duchy of Limburg
The Duchy of Limburg, situated in the Low Countries between the river Meuse and the city of Aachen, was a state of the Holy Roman Empire. Its territory is now divided between the Belgian provinces of Liège and Limburg , the Dutch province of Limburg , and a small part of North Rhine-Westphalia in...
, where they became hereditary marshal of Limburg, and gave several generals to the Habsburg
Habsburg
The House of Habsburg , also found as Hapsburg, and also known as House of Austria is one of the most important royal houses of Europe and is best known for being an origin of all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperors between 1438 and 1740, as well as rulers of the Austrian Empire and...
monarchy. In 1587, they had been made Counts of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1687, the general François-Guillaume de Maigret, then called Franz-Wilhelm Graf von Maigret, fought bravely and was severely wounded in the war against the Turks, and he was confirmed in his hereditary titles of Count of Maigret & Néau
Neau
Neau is a commune in the Mayenne department in north-western France....
, and of the Holy Roman Empire, such as Baron of Stockem.
The Colonel de Maigret had married 1942 a young Lady of France's finest aristocracy, descendant of the Kings of Poland and Princes of Saxony
Saxony
The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
, from whom they had one son, who died in Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
, and three daughters.
Decorations
Colonel de Maigret received the following honors:(List is Incomplete)
- Commander of the Legion of Honor (Légion d'honneur)
- Commander of the National Order of Merit (Ordre national du Mérite)
- Cross of War (Croix de guerre), 1939–45, with several distinctions
- Cross of War, Exterior Theaters of Operations (Croix de guerre, Theater d'Operations Exterior)
- Cross of Military Valour with numerous bravery distinctions
- Silver StarSilver StarThe Silver Star is the third-highest combat military decoration that can be awarded to a member of any branch of the United States armed forces for valor in the face of the enemy....
(USA)
- Member of the Society of the CincinnatiSociety of the CincinnatiThe Society of the Cincinnati is a historical organization with branches in the United States and France founded in 1783 to preserve the ideals and fellowship of the American Revolutionary War officers and to pressure the government to honor pledges it had made to officers who fought for American...
- Commander of the Constantinian Order of St George