François de Grossouvre
François de Grossouvre | |
---|---|
Suicide by gunshot | |
Nationality | French |
Occupation | French politician |
François de Grossouvre (29 March 1918 – 7 April 1994) was a French
He was found dead with gunshot wounds at the Élysée Palace, the French President's official residence. The official verdict was suicide.
Early life
François de Grossouvre was born in an aristocratic family, the descendant of Jean-François Durand, seigneur de Grossouvre (1735–1832).[2] His father, a banker, died in 1923 in Beirut, where he resided. François de Grossouvre thereafter kept affective ties to Lebanon. He then studied with the Jesuits in France and studied medicine.
During the
Grossouvre became a member of
Grossouvre was then recruited in 1950 by the French
Hebecame leader of Arc-en-Ciel, the regional branch of
According to the former SDECE agent Louis Mouchon, "His business, the A. Berger et Cie Sugar company, offered ample opportunities to stage fronts. He really had excellent contacts." According to his obituary in The Economist, "He was recruited into the French espionage service and helped to organise Gladio, an American backed plan to create an armed resistance movement in Western Europe against a Russian invasion."
He met Pierre Mendès France during the war on a bomber, who would later introduce him to François Mitterrand.
Industrial activities
In 1943, he married Claudette Berger, the daughter of an industrialist, Antoine Berger, and had six children. Grossouvre managed his family-in-law's companies Le Bon Sucre (1944–1963) and A. Berger et Cie (1949–1963) and then founded the Générale Sucrière sugar company. Along with Italian collaborators, the businessman Gilbert Beaujolin and the American Alexandre Patty, he succeeded in obtaining an exclusive production licence for
Besides his industrial activity, Grossouvre was counsellor for foreign trade of France (1952–1967) and vice-president of the Chambre de commerce franco-sarroise (1955–1962). He invested some capital in the 1953 creation of
Relations with François Mitterrand
Grossouvre became a friend of Mitterrand during a trip to China in 1959, and participated in the Convention des institutions républicaines (CIR), a party created by Mitterrand in 1964 and dissolved at the 1971
Grossouvre participated in all of Mitterrand's campaigns, from the
Grossouvre combined those functions with the presidency of the Comité des chasses présidentielles (Committee of Presidential Hunts), in charge of the hunting grounds of the presidency. He held that post until his death and used the grounds for informal meetings.[6]
According to Le Figaro, the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior on 10 July 1985 had been decided at a June meeting at the Elysée Palace, attended by Defence Minister Charles Hernu, Admiral Lacoste and Grossouvre[1][7]
In July 1985, he officially ended his functions as adviser to the president, and worked as an international counsellor for the arms trader
Death
Grossouvre "committed suicide" on 7 April 1994 with two bullets[
References
- ^ a b Grossouvre biography, from Brian Crozier, Free Agent, 1993, and Daniele Ganser, 'NATO's Secret Armies: Operation Gladio and Terrorism in Western Europe', Franck Cass, London, 2005 p. 90-91
- ^ Genealogy available here
- ^ See Paul Barril, Guerres secrètes à l'Élysée.
- ^ Du Temple Solaire au réseau Gladio, en passant par Politica Hermetica... Archived 23 August 2006 at the Wayback Machine, Didier Daeninckx in Amnistia.net, 27 February 2002 (in French)
- L'Express, 29 September 2005 (in French)
- ^ a b c François de Grossouvre se donne la mort à l’Elysée, L'Humanité, 8 April 1994 (in French), Retrieved 10 August 2022
- ^ 'Greenpeace ship reaches test site', The New York Times, 6 October 1985: "Mr. Mitterrand's Socialist Government acknowledged secret service responsibility for the sinking last month. Defence Minister Charles Hernu and Adm. Pierre Lacoste, the head of the secret service, resigned because of the scandal. It was not believable that Mr. de Grossouvre failed to inform Mr. Mitterrand of the sabotage plans, Le Figaro contended."
- ^ François de Grossouvre inhumé aujourd'hui, L'Humanité, 11 April 1994 (in French)
- ^ Suicide de François de Grossouvre, L'Humanité, 8 April 1994 (in French)
- New York Times, 12 April 1994
Bibliography
- Éminences grises, de Roger Faligot et Rémi Kauffer, éd. Fayard, 1992.
- Les éminences grises, de Christine Fauvet-Mycia, éd. Belfond, 1988.
- Guerres secrètes à l'Élysée, du Capitaine Paul Barril, éd. Albin Michel, 1996.
- La Décennie Mitterrand, Pierre Favier et Michel Martin-Roland, éd. du Seuil, tome 4, 1999
- Interlocuteur privilégié, Daniel Gamba, J'ai lu, 2003
- Le grand secret, de Claude Gubler et Michel Gonod, PLON, 1996.
- Le Point du 5 avril 2002, N° 1542, page 15. [L'auteur a récusé depuis toute idée d'assassinat]
- VSD, 09-15 août 2001, pages 86–89.
- Historia, février 2002, N° 662, pages 62–63.
- Who's Who in France, 24° Edition 1992–1993.
- Aucun témoin ne doit survivre, Le génocide au Rwanda, d'Alison Des Forges, ed. Karthala, 1999. [Propagande FPR]
- Le Cabinet noir, avec François de Grossouvre au coeur de l'Elysée de Mitterrand, de Frédéric Laurent, éd. Albin Michel, novembre 2006. ISBN 978-2-226-17508-3
- La Nouvelle Revue d'Histoire, par Dominique Venner, janvier-février 2007, N° 28, pages 21–24.