Admiral Philippe de Gaulle, son of General de Gaulle, died at the age of 102 in Paris, AFP learned from his family on Wednesday March 13.
“He died during the night from Tuesday to Wednesday at the National Institution of Invalides where he had been a resident for two years,” said his son Yves de Gaulle.
“Let us salute the memory of a formidable father and a great Frenchman, whose sense of duty was matched only by elegance and modesty. Vision, honor and simplicity, that is ultimately Gaullism.” wrote about X Pierre de Gaulle, another son of the admiral.
Admiral de Gaulle, my father, left last night.
Let us salute the memory of a formidable father and a great Frenchman, whose sense of duty was matched only by his elegance and modesty.
Vision, honor and simplicity, that is ultimately Gaullism.
Thank you my Dear Dad!
— Pierre de Gaulle (@PierredeGaulle) March 13, 2024
Senator from Paris
Born on December 28, 1921 in Paris, Philippe de Gaulle, a former student of the Naval Academy, joined the Free French Naval Forces in 1940.
He had participated as an ensign in the campaigns in the North Atlantic until 1944, then in the French campaign (1944-1945) in the Leclerc division.
Lieutenant in 1948, lieutenant captain in 1956, admiral in 1980, he ended his military career two years later.
The eldest of the de Gaulle couple's three children was then a senator for Paris between 1986 and 2004 under the RPR label, then the UMP.
He devoted himself to preserving the memory of his father, publishing several works on the general, including "De Gaulle, my father", a publishing success.
For the "dazzled son", as he said, it was a question of humanizing his illustrious father, icon during his lifetime, leader of Free France and former President of the Republic, who died in 1970.
With AFP
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