Étienne Hirsch (20 January 1901 – 17 May 1994) was a French civil engineer and a member of the
French Resistance during
World War II. He served as President of the Commission of the
European Atomic Energy Community between 1959 and 1962 (see
Hirsch Commission The Hirsch Commission was the second Commission of the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom), between 1959 and 1962. Its president was Étienne Hirsch of France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily ...
).
Life and career
Étienne Hirsch was born in 1901 in a
Jewish family of
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
and
Bohemia
Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...
n descent. He was the son of Richard and Marianne Hirsch (née Schwenk), deported by Convoy 77 in July 1944, and the brother of Madeleine Melese (née Hirsch), and Juliette Lévy (née Hirsch) deported with her children Michèle, Jean-Paul, Alain and Catherine by
Convoy 35 in September 1942. His parents and sister Juliette were assassinated in
Auschwitz
Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...
.
After France's defeat in the
Battle of France
The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of French Third Rep ...
during
World War II, he immediately joined
Charles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (; ; (commonly abbreviated as CDG) 22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French army officer and statesman who led Free France against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government ...
in
London and became an officer in the
Free French Forces under the name of Commandant Bernard. General de Gaulle put Hirsch in charge of supplying arms to the
French Resistance forces on the Continent. In
1943
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January
* January 1 – WWII: The Soviet Union announces that 22 German divisions have been encircled at Stalingrad, with 175,000 killed and 137,650 captured.
* January 4 – ...
, he became a close associate with
Jean Monnet
Jean Omer Marie Gabriel Monnet (; 9 November 1888 – 16 March 1979) was a French civil servant, entrepreneur, diplomat, financier, administrator, and political visionary. An influential supporter of European unity, he is considered one of the ...
in the
French Committee of National Liberation in
Algiers
Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...
. After the
liberation of France, he directed a program to modernize the French economy. He served later as an administrator of the
European Coal and Steel Community
The European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was a European organization created after World War II to regulate the coal and steel industries. It was formally established in 1951 by the Treaty of Paris, signed by Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembo ...
.
In 1959, Hirsch became the chairman of the
European Atomic Energy Community.
"Etienne Hirsch, 93, Backer of a Europe United Like the U.S."
The New York Times, 19.05.1994.
See also
* Hirsch Commission The Hirsch Commission was the second Commission of the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom), between 1959 and 1962. Its president was Étienne Hirsch of France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily ...
Bibliography
* 1988 : ''Ainsi va la vie'', Jean Monnet Foundation for Europe
The Jean Monnet Foundation for Europe is a public-utility and independent institution, created in 1978 by Jean Monnet and Henri Rieben, and dedicated to the conservation of Monnet's archives. Based in Lausanne since its creation, the foundati ...
, Lausanne, 250 p.
References
External links
Oral history interview with Etienne Hirsch
1901 births
1994 deaths
French European Commissioners
French civil engineers
French people of Jewish descent
Mines ParisTech alumni
Engineers from Paris
French people of German-Jewish descent
{{EU-org-bio-stub