Jean Gandois, AM (7 May 1930 – 7 August 2020) was a French businessman.

Early life

He was born in Nieul, Haute-Vienne. He was a student at the

École polytechnique École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

, where he graduated in 1949 as an engineer of bridges and road construction.

Career

From 1954 to 1960 he worked on public projects in Guinea, as an expert for the road programs of

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

and

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

. In 1961 he returned to France and worked for the Wendel Group. After various positions, in 1972, he became general manager of Sacilor, then Chairman and managing Director of

Sollac Sollac (Société Lorraine de Laminage Continu) was a French steel company formed in December 1948 as a cooperative to produce steel rolls in Lorraine from steel provided by several other companies. There were various changes of ownership during t ...

. In 1976 he started working at the

Rhône-Poulenc Rhône-Poulenc () was a French chemical and pharmaceutical company founded in 1928. In 1999 it merged with Hoechst AG to form Aventis. As of 2015, the pharmaceutical operations of Rhône-Poulenc are part of Sanofi and the chemicals divisions a ...

, eventually becoming Chief Executive Officer. He left the group in 1982 and until 1986 he worked as an international consultant. In 1986 he became Chairman and managing Director of the Pechiney Group. He left them in 1994 to take the chair of the National Council of French Employers ( CNPF, old name of Medef). Feeling betrayed by the government, he resigned in 1997 after the

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

government voted a law for the 35 hours work week. From 1987 to 1999 he worked as a crisis manager for Cockerill Sambre. He was a president of the board of trustees of Suez. He was a member of the Belgian business club

Cercle de Lorraine The Cercle de Lorraine or Club van Lotharingen is a Belgian business club, located in Brussels, Belgium. The club was founded in 1998, and it wants to bring together, distinguished and representative personalities from the Belgian financial communi ...

. In 1995 he was appointed an Honorary Member of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gov ...

(AM), "for service to Australian-French relations, particularly in the business sphere".It's an Honour
/ref> He died at

Sologne Sologne (; ) is a natural region in Centre-Val de Loire, France, extending over portions of the departements of Loiret, Loir-et-Cher and Cher. Its area is about . To its north is the river Loire, to its south the river Cher, while the distr ...

, aged 90.

References

1930 births 2020 deaths People from Haute-Vienne French businesspeople École Polytechnique alumni Honorary Members of the Order of Australia {{France-business-bio-stub