Général André Jean-Baptiste Marie Gabriel Puget (29 January 1911 – 26 January 1973) was a French diplomat, and the first (joint) chief executive of the

Concorde The Aérospatiale/BAC Concorde () is a retired Franco-British supersonic airliner jointly developed and manufactured by Sud Aviation (later Aérospatiale) and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Studies started in 1954, and France an ...

project.

Early life

He was born in

Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...

in the

Loire-Atlantique Loire-Atlantique (; br, Liger-Atlantel; before 1957: ''Loire-Inférieure'', br, Liger-Izelañ, link=no) is a department in Pays de la Loire on the west coast of France, named after the river Loire and the Atlantic Ocean. It had a population o ...

department, in north-west France. He attended the

École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr The École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr (ESM, literally the "Special Military School of Saint-Cyr") is a French military academy, and is often referred to as Saint-Cyr (). It is located in Coëtquidan in Guer, Morbihan, Brittany. Its motto is ...

in 1929, leaving in 1931.

Career

Second World War

During the Second World War, he worked with the Free French Forces in the UK, flying as a bomber pilot with the Free French Air Forces. He was awarded the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typ ...

(DSO). He flew the

Handley Page Halifax The Handley Page Halifax is a British Royal Air Force (RAF) four-engined heavy bomber of the Second World War. It was developed by Handley Page to the same specification as the contemporary twin-engine Avro Manchester. The Halifax has its or ...

with 346 Squadron in

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

French Air Force

He became an officer in the

French Air Force The French Air and Space Force (AAE) (french: Armée de l'air et de l'espace, ) is the air and space force of the French Armed Forces. It was the first military aviation force in history, formed in 1909 as the , a service arm of the French Army; ...

. From 1961-62 he was Chief of the Defence Staff.

Sud Aviation

He was head of

Sud Aviation Sud Aviation (, ''Southern Aviation'') was a French state-owned aircraft manufacturer, originating from the merger of Sud-Est (SNCASE, or ''Société nationale des constructions aéronautiques du sud-est'') and Sud-Ouest (SNCASO or ''Société n ...

from 23 July 1962, and was responsible for getting the Concorde project going, as a joint chief executive. The name Concorde had been thought up by the 18-year-old son of the sales director of

BAC BAC or Bac may refer to: Places * Bac, Rožaje, Bac, a village in Montenegro * Baile Átha Cliath, Irish language name for Dublin city. * Bîc River, aka ''Bâc River'', a Moldovan river * Baç Bridge, bridge in Turkey * Barnes County Municipal A ...

; the 'e' was added to Concorde on 11 December 1967. Sud Aviation became part of

Aérospatiale Aérospatiale (), sometimes styled Aerospatiale, was a French state-owned aerospace manufacturer that built both civilian and military aircraft, rockets and satellites. It was originally known as Société nationale industrielle aérospatiale ( ...

in 1970. In negotiations to build Concorde in early 1962, there was no progress made between the French and English companies; Georges Hereil of Sud Aviation wanted to build to the French design, and BAC wanted the plane to be built as the BAC 223 (

Bristol Type 223 The Bristol Type 223 was an early design for a supersonic transport. In the late 1950s and early 1960s the Bristol Aeroplane Company studied a number of models as part of a large British inter-company effort funded by the government. These mod ...

). Hereil being replaced by 51-year-old Puget in 1962 enabled a compromise to be made; Hereil left at the end of June 1962.The 25 Most Influential Aircraft of All Time
/ref> The agreement to build Concorde was signed on 29 November 1962. On 5 November 1965, he took

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021) was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he served as the consort of the British monarch from El ...

around the Sud Aviation factory in southern France, where the Duke demonstrated his command of the French language. On 5 December 1966, he took the Soviet Prime Minister Alexei Kosygin on a tour around the factory, including taking Kosygin briefly inside Concorde 001, which was being built; at the time, Concorde was due to first fly on 28 February 1968. Puget was replaced in 1967 by the controversial Maurice Papon. Papon would not last long at Sud Aviation, being replaced by

Henri Ziegler Henri Ziegler CVO, CBE (18 November 1906 in Limoges – 24 July 1998, in Paris) was one of the founders of Airbus and its first president. Life and legacy An engineer, graduate of the École Polytechnique and of "Sup'Aéro" (the national ae ...

, who had also flown with the Free French Air Force during the war.

Diplomat

From 1967-70 he was the French ambassador to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

, at the

Embassy of France, Stockholm The Embassy of France in Stockholm is the diplomatic mission of the French Republic in Sweden. The Chancery (building), chancery is located at Kommendörsgatan 13. The Embassy The Embassy is located in the district of Östermalm in the heart of ...

Business school

From 1970-73 he was Director of the

HEC Paris HEC Paris (french: École des hautes études commerciales de Paris) is a business school, and one of the most prestigious and selective grandes écoles, located in Jouy-en-Josas, France. HEC offers Master in Management, MSc International Fi ...

in Jouy-en-Josas.

Personal life

He married Thérèse Péquin (2 December 1915 - 30 March 2009) in 1936, and they had three daughters. He died in 1973 in Suresnes, in the west of

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, aged 61; he is buried in Le Pouliguen on the French west coast. His wife died aged 93 in Le Chesnay, in the west of Paris.

References

External links

Aviation Heritage

Family tree

Prince Philip visits the Sud Aviation plant in November 1965

Alexei Kosygin visits the Sud Aviation plant in December 1966
{{DEFAULTSORT:Puget, Andre 1911 births 1973 deaths Ambassadors of France to Sweden Chiefs of the Staff of the French Air and Space Force Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Concorde École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr alumni Free French military personnel of World War II French Air Force generals Grand Cross of the Ordre national du Mérite Grand Officers of the Legion of Honour Diplomats from Nantes Sud Aviation Military personnel from Nantes