Jean René Baroux (1922–1992) was a

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

-born veteran 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 ...

and a writer very much engaged in the evolution of the

French language French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in Nor ...

. While a member of the

Science Council of Canada The Science Council of Canada (SCC) was a Canadian governmental advisory board existing from 1966 to 1993. It originally had 25 scientists and senior civil servants, later expanded to 40 natural and physical scientists, with the civil servants remo ...

(Director of Communications), in 1976 he founded the Association Québécoise des Professionnels de la Communication Scientifique (AQPCS), a complementary extension to the Canadian Scientific Writers Association. Baroux was born in

Casablanca Casablanca, also known in Arabic as Dar al-Bayda ( ar, الدَّار الْبَيْضَاء, al-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ, ; ber, ⴹⴹⴰⵕⵍⴱⵉⴹⴰ, ḍḍaṛlbiḍa, : "White House") is the largest city in Morocco and the country's econom ...

. A veteran of the North African Corp from Morocco, he participated in the liberation of

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

first, and then

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, from German occupation. He fought in what is considered the biggest and bloodiest land battle of World War II, the

Battle of Monte Cassino The Battle of Monte Cassino, also known as the Battle for Rome and the Battle for Cassino, was a series of four assaults made by the Allies against German forces in Italy during the Italian Campaign of World War II. The ultimate objective was ...

, where an estimated third of a million people died through the first five months of 1944. He was also one of the soldiers who reached the demolished abbey, having been directly involved in the final, and decisive assault on German forces ensconced in the Benedictine Monastery. In August 1944, he landed with allied forces on the beaches around

Saint-Tropez , INSEE = 83119 , postal code = 83990 , image coat of arms = Blason ville fr Saint-Tropez-A (Var).svg , image flag=Flag of Saint-Tropez.svg Saint-Tropez (; oc, Sant Tropetz, ; ) is a commune in the Var department and the region of Provence-Al ...

, France, as part of

Operation Dragoon Operation Dragoon (initially Operation Anvil) was the code name for the landing operation of the Allied invasion of Provence (Southern France) on 15August 1944. Despite initially designed to be executed in conjunction with Operation Overlord, th ...

which launched a 25-mile front onto the German invasion forces in

Provence Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...

. He survived through another year of battle, moving North attacking the retreating German forces, through Gap, then

Grenoble lat, Gratianopolis , commune status = Prefecture and commune , image = Panorama grenoble.png , image size = , caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...

and on to

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 ...

. He was awarded 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 ...

for bravery in battle during the war. He died in

Nanaimo Nanaimo ( ) is a city on the east coast of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. As of the Canada 2021 Census, 2021 census, it had a population of 99,863, and it is known as "The Harbour City." The city was previously known as the "H ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, Canada.

Book

* ''La Méditation Intime (The Intimate Meditation)'' by Jean Baroux (1982): National Library of Canada

References

* L'OMNISCIENT - Bulletin de l'Association des Communicateurs Scientifiques - on the 25th. anniversary of ACS, formerly named AQPCS (May 2002).

* L'OMNISCIENT - AQPCS -'' "Qui est le vrai fondateur?" ("Who is the real founder?")'' (Article Spring 2002)

* Agence Science Presse – ''"Le dernier voyage de Fernand Seguin"'' ''("Fernand Seguin's Final Voyage")'' (26 Nov.2008

Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France) 1992 deaths 1922 births French military personnel of World War II French expatriates in Morocco French emigrants to Canada {{Canada-writer-stub