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Bernard Destremau (; 11 February 1917 – 6 June 2002) was a French
tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
player, tank officer, diplomat and politician.


Biography

Born in
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 ...
into a military family, the third son of a WW I cavalry general, his success in accommodating competitive tennis with academic, military, diplomatic and political pursuits is distinctive. A precocious French junior tennis champion in the mid-1930s, Destremau reached the singles semifinals at Roland Garros in 1937 (losing to winner
Henner Henkel Heinrich Ernst Otto "Henner" Henkel (; 9 October 1915 – 13 January 1943) was a German tennis player during the 1930s. His biggest success was his singles title at the 1937 French Championships. Biography Henner was born in 1915 the son of ...
) and the quarterfinals in 1936 and 1938 before winning the 1938 French Championships doubles (with
Yvon Petra Yvon Petra (; 8 March 1916 – 12 September 1984) was a French male tennis player. He was born in Cholon, French Indochina. Petra is best remembered as the last Frenchman to win the Wimbledon Championships men's singles title (in 1946), beatin ...
, beating
Don Budge John Donald Budge (June 13, 1915 – January 26, 2000) was an American tennis player. He is most famous as the first tennis player — male or female, and still the only American male — to win the Grand Slam, and to win all four Grand Slam ev ...
-
Gene Mako Constantine "Gene" Mako ( hu, Makó Jenő ; January 24, 1916 – June 14, 2013) was an American tennis player and art gallery owner. He was born in Budapest, capital of Hungary. He won four Grand Slam doubles titles in the 1930s. Mako was induct ...
). During those years he graduated from HEC (Hautes Etudes Commerciales). Destremau also won the 1941 and the 1942
Tournoi de France The ''Tournoi de France'' ( French, 'Tournament of France') was a friendly international football tournament organised by the French Football Federation (FFF) that was held in France. There have been two tournaments: the first in February 1988 a ...
which in war-time was not counted as a grand slam event and later, won several national titles including the 1951 and 1953 French National singles championships. He remained an amateur, devoted his tennis mostly to the
Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organis ...
, the King of Sweden Cup and other French team matches and was ranked Nr. 1 in France for several years. As a veteran he won the
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...
over-45 doubles event with
Bill Talbert William Franklin Talbert (September 4, 1918 – February 28, 1999) was an American tennis player and administrator. Tennis career He was ranked in the U.S. top 10 13 times between 1941 and 1954, and was ranked World No. 3 in 1949 by John Olliff ...
, in 1964. He had been a Wimbledon familiar with numerous Championships' entries (from 1934 to 1955), Davis Cup ties and other fixtures. At the outbreak of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
he sailed from New York back to France to be drafted into officer training. In May and June 1940 as a junior liaison officer he saw but little action, fell back with his motorised unit to Montauban and witnessed helplessly the Fall of France and the Armistice. Returning to civil life, Destremau resumed his studies and with a diplomatic career in view, graduated from Sciences Po. He played occasional tennis tournaments in France, North Africa, Spain and Portugal as travel permitted. After the American landing in North Africa he decided to re-enlist and succeeded in escaping through the well-guarded Pyrenees into Spain and thence to Morocco. After joining the Free French forces as a tank platoon officer he submitted to long months of training in various Algerian camps. His platoon landed in Provence in July 1944 as an element of the 1st Army under De Lattre de Tassigny. He fought in Provence, Burgundy, Alsace and the Black Forest, was shot in the back in La Valette-du-Var on the road to the critical port of Toulon and was wounded on two separate engagements by hand-grenade shrapnel. He was awarded the
Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...
during the campaign from the hands of De Lattre and the croix de guerre. After the war, still playing tennis for France, he became a diplomat and was posted to Egypt during the Suez Canal crisis, South Africa and Belgium. Venturing into politics he was elected député for Versailles in 1967 and held the seat until 1978, became Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in 1974, and retired in 1981 after a last post as ambassador to Argentina. In politics he entertained a marked friendship with President
Valéry Giscard d'Estaing Valéry René Marie Georges Giscard d'Estaing (, , ; 2 February 19262 December 2020), also known as Giscard or VGE, was a French politician who served as President of France from 1974 to 1981. After serving as Minister of Finance under prime ...
. A prolific writer of books on history and politics, he became a member of the French
Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosop ...
in 1996. He wrote his autobiography, ''Le Cinquième Set'', and biographies of General Weygand and Marshal de Lattre. Destremau married Diane de Pracomtal in 1954 and was the father of a daughter and two sons. His wife died in December 2016. His son Christian has written books on WWII intelligence (''Garbo''; ''Ce que savaient les Alliés''; ''Le Moyen-Orient pendant la Seconde Guerre Mondiale''), a biography of Laurence of Arabia, ''Churchill et la France'', a book about the lifetime relations of Winston Churchill and the French and a biography of Ian Fleming, the inventor of James Bond. None of these works have yet been translated into English. Sébastien Destremau, the sailing professional who has competed internationally (
Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race The Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race is an annual event hosted by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, starting in Sydney, New South Wales, on Boxing Day and finishing in Hobart, Tasmania. The race distance is approximately . The race is run i ...
,
Vendée Globe --> The Vendée Globe is a single-handed (solo) non-stop round the world yacht race. The race was founded by Philippe Jeantot in 1989, and since 1992 has taken place every four years. It is named after the Département of Vendée, in France, w ...
,
Route du Rhum The Route du Rhum is a transatlantic single-handed yacht race, which takes place every four years in November. The course is between Saint Malo, Brittany, Metropolitan France and Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe, overseas France. The first competiti ...
) is his great-nephew.


Grand Slam finals


Doubles : 1 title


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Destremau, Bernard 1917 births 2002 deaths French Championships (tennis) champions French male tennis players Independent Republicans politicians Members of the Académie des sciences morales et politiques Tennis players from Paris Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's doubles French Army personnel of World War II French Army officers Free French military personnel of World War II