Heir to the Compagnie Fraissinet, Lieutenant (later Captain) Jean Alfred Fraissinet also served 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; ...

during World War I, becoming a

flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace is varied, but is usually co ...

credited with eight aerial victories. Postwar, he took the helm of his family's shipping line in 1927. He founded two newspapers and bought another. He also bought the ''Château Saint-Maur'' and transformed it into a winery. The capstone of his career came in 1958, when he was elected to his nation's National Assembly as a member of the

National Centre of Independents and Peasants The National Centre of Independents and Peasants (''Centre National des Indépendants et Paysans'', CNIP) is a right-wing agrarian political party in France, founded in 1951 by the merger of the National Centre of Independents (the heir of the ...

Early life and ground service

Jean Alfred Fraissinet was born in the port city of Marseilles, France on 22 June 1894. When World War I began, he joined the ranks of the French military, being assigned to the 6th Hussar Regiment on 7 September 1914. On 6 November 1914, he was promoted to the enlisted rank of

Brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...

. After promotion to Maréchal-des-logis on 27 September 1915, he attended school at

Saumur Saumur () is a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France. The town is located between the Loire and Thouet rivers, and is surrounded by the vineyards of Saumur itself, Chinon, Bourgueil, Coteaux du Layon, etc.. Saumur statio ...

, beginning on 26 April 1916. On 1 August 1916, he was appointed an Aspirant. He then reported to

Dijon Dijon (, , ) (dated) * it, Digione * la, Diviō or * lmo, Digion is the prefecture of the Côte-d'Or department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in northeastern France. the commune had a population of 156,920. The earlies ...

for pilot training.''Over the Front'', p. 162.

Aerial service in World War I

After a further transfer to

Chartres Chartres () is the prefecture of the Eure-et-Loir department in the Centre-Val de Loire region in France. It is located about southwest of Paris. At the 2019 census, there were 170,763 inhabitants in the metropolitan area of Chartres (as d ...

on 3 September 1916, he received his military pilot's license on 4 November 1916. He underwent advanced training before posting to Escadrille N57 on 14 March 1917. His commissioning as a temporary ''

sous lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until 19 ...

'' followed on 17 August 1917. The following month, he began his victory string. He won the ''

Croix de Guerre The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awa ...

'' with five ''Palmes'' and an ''Etoile de bronze'' for his gallantry. On 24 September 1918, he was promoted to lieutenant. On 1 October 1918, Fraissinet and his wingman attacked a formation of 20 German two-seaters engaged in trench strafing; Fraissinet set two of them aflame. This courageous feat was rewarded with the

Légion d'honneur 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 ...

on 9 November 1918.

List of aerial victories

After World War I

Fraissinet would not be discharged from military service until 7 October 1919. In 1927, Jean Fraissinet replaced his father Alfred as head of the Compagnie Fraissinet, the family's shipping firm. Fraissinet married Mathilde Cyprien-Fabre, who was the daughter of a prominent shipping family, Compagnie Française de Navigation à Vapeur Cyprien Fabre (

Fabre Line The Fabre Line or Compagnie Francaise de Navigation a Vapeur Cyprien Fabre & Compagnie was a French shipping line formed in 1881 by Cyprian Fabre. It began operating a small fleet of sailing ships in 1865. Its ports of call included New York, NY; ...

). In 1930, the two shipping firms, as well as a third line, integrated operations to mutually increase their commercial competitiveness. The following year, Fraissinet established two newspapers–''Marseille-Soir'' and ''Marseille-Matin''.''Les Marseillais dans l'histoire: Volume 3 of Les Hommes dans l'histoire''. Pierre Guiral, Félix Reynaud. Privat, 1988. , . Vi
Fraissinet (Shipping company, France)
''Flags of the World''. Retrieved 2011-11-01. The threeway alliance of shipping companies lasted until 1935; then Fraissinet consolidated the Fabre Line and the Compagnie Fraissinet and abandoned the third company to its fate. On 23 May 1937, he bought the historic ''Château Saint-Maur'' and its grounds from Sir Henry Laurens, the wealthy tobacconist. Fraissinet turned the property from its former agricultural uses of growing wheat, beets, and cotton into vineyards.
Château Saint-Maur. Retrieved 2011-11-01. Fraissinet returned to his country's service in World War II, rising to the rank of captain. In January 1941, he was made a member of the National Council of

Vichy France Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its ter ...

. Following the war, in 1947 he bought another newspaper, '' Le Méridional''. In 1952, he merged it with ''Sud-Est'' and ''La France de Marseille''. As a culmination of the right wing nationalist views he espoused in his newspapers, he was elected to the

National Assembly of France The National Assembly (french: link=no, italics=set, Assemblée nationale; ) is the lower house of the bicameral French Parliament under the Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are known a ...

, as a member of the

party, on 30 November 1958.Jean Fraissinet
Assemblee Nationale. Retrieved 2011-11-01. Translation via Babelfish. Jean Fraissinet passed direction of the family concern to his son Roland. During Jean Fraissinet's four years in political office, he was a staunch advocate of retaining a

French Algeria French Algeria (french: Alger to 1839, then afterwards; unofficially , ar, الجزائر المستعمرة), also known as Colonial Algeria, was the period of French colonisation of Algeria. French rule in the region began in 1830 with the ...

, thus being opposed to

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 ...

's policies. Fraissinet's term ended on 9 October 1962; he was not re-elected. The Fraissinet family shipping company docked its last ship in 1968, and withdrew entirely from the shipping business in 1974, ending 138 years of maritime service. Jean Fraissinet died in 1981 leaving behind him three children (Roland Fraissinet, Regis Fraissinet, Nadine Patricot-Fraissinet) and eight grandchildren (Hadrien Fraissinet, Eric Fraissinet, Marc Fraissinet, Dora Fraissinet, Ines Fraissinet, Philippe Patricot, Chantal Patricot, Noel Patricot).

References

;Notes ;Citations ;Bibliography * ''Over the Front: A Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the United States and French Air Services, 1914-1918'' Norman L. R. Franks, Frank W. Bailey. Grub Street, 1992. , . {{DEFAULTSORT:Fraissinet, Jean Alfred 1894 births 1981 deaths Politicians from Marseille Military personnel from Marseille French Calvinist and Reformed Christians National Centre of Independents and Peasants politicians Members of the National Council of Vichy France Deputies of the 1st National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Members of Parliament for Bouches-du-Rhône French anti-communists French World War I flying aces French military personnel of World War II Commanders of the Legion of Honour Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France)