Louis de Cazenave (October 16, 1897 – January 20, 2008) was, at the time of his death, the oldest surviving

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

veteran of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. De Cazenave became the oldest living

poilu Poilu (; ) is an informal term for a late 18th century–early 20th century French infantryman, meaning, literally, ''the hairy one''. It is still widely used as a term of endearment for the French infantry of World War I. The word carries the se ...

following the death of 111-year-old

Maurice Floquet Maurice Noël Floquet (25 December 1894 – 10 November 2006) was, aged 111 and 320 days, France's oldest man on record and was one of the last surviving French veterans of World War I. He is also France's longest-lived soldier of all time. ...

on November 10, 2006, and later following the death of 110-year-old Aimé Avignon on August 23, 2007 also the oldest living Frenchman as well as the fourth-oldest living European man. After the death of Japaneseman Giichi Okumura on October 13, 2007, he was also the 12th-oldest living man in the world. After his death, de Cazenave was succeeded as the oldest living Frenchman as well as French veteran of

by Italian-born

Lazare Ponticelli Lazare Ponticelli (born Lazzaro Ponticelli; 24 December 1897, later mistranscribed as 7 December – 12 March 2008), Knight of Vittorio Veneto, was at 110, the last surviving officially recognized veteran of the First World War from France an ...

, who was two months younger and died only two months later, on March 12, 2008. Two further French veterans, 108-year-old

Fernand Goux Fernand Goux (31 December 1899 – 9 November 2008) was, at age 108, the penultimate French World War I veteran, with Pierre Picault being the last. "On a retrouvé un soldat de 1918 vivant". ''Ouest-France'' (19 June 2008). Born in Sceaux-du-G ...

and 109-year-old Pierre Picault who were the oldest living Frenchmen after Ponticelli's death as well as the last living Frenchmen born before 1900, died later in November 2008, but neither was officially recognized as the last French veteran of the war by the government of France because they served fewer than three months.

Biography

Louis de Cazenave was born and raised in

Saint-Georges-d'Aurac Saint-Georges-d'Aurac (; oc, Sent Jòrgi d'Aurac) is a commune in the Haute-Loire department in south-central France. Population Personalities The commune was the home of Louis de Cazenave who was, at the time of his death, the oldest surviv ...

in the

Auvergne Auvergne (; ; oc, label=Occitan, Auvèrnhe or ) is a former administrative region in central France, comprising the four departments of Allier, Puy-de-Dôme, Cantal and Haute-Loire. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region Auverg ...

region of south central France. When he turned nineteen years old, at the end of 1916, he was mobilized into the military. He found himself in various units before being assigned to the colonial infantry front in the 5th Senegalese Tirailleur Battalion and fought in the

Battle of Chemin des Dames In France, the Chemin des Dames (; literally, the "ladies' path") is part of the route départementale (local road) D18 and runs east and west in the Aisne department, between in the west, the Route Nationale 2 (Laon to Soissons), and in the eas ...

. At the end of the war, de Cazenave returned to

Haute-Loire Haute-Loire (; oc, Naut Léger or ''Naut Leir''; English: Upper Loire) is a landlocked department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of south-central France. Named after the Loire River, it is surrounded by the departments of Loire, Ardèche ...

and married in 1920 to Marie, a postmistress with whom he had three sons. He became a railwayman, joining the predecessor to the

SNCF The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (; abbreviated as SNCF ; French for "National society of French railroads") is France's national state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the country's national rail traffi ...

. His experiences led him to become a convinced

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaign ...

; later on, he participated in the strikes and demonstrations of the

Popular Front A popular front is "any coalition of working-class and middle-class parties", including liberal and social democratic ones, "united for the defense of democratic forms" against "a presumed Fascist assault". More generally, it is "a coalition ...

in 1936 before going into retirement in 1941. During the

Nazi occupation of France The Military Administration in France (german: Militärverwaltung in Frankreich; french: Occupation de la France par l'Allemagne) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zo ...

, he subscribed to the banned left-wing libertarian journal ''La Patrie Humaine'' and was imprisoned by the pro-Nazi

Vichy Vichy (, ; ; oc, Vichèi, link=no, ) is a city in the Allier Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of central France, in the historic province of Bourbonnais. It is a Spa town, spa and resort town and in World ...

regime. Although at first refusing any decorations, de Cazenave accepted 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 B ...

in 1995, along with several other veterans. He died at his family home in

Brioude Brioude (; Auvergnat: ''Briude'') is a commune in the Haute-Loire department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-central France. It lies on the banks of the river Allier, a tributary of the Loire. History At Brioude, the ancient ''Brivas ...

at age 110.

References

External links

The First World War: The Chemin des Dames, ''Louis de Cazenave: 1897–2008''
brief biography

obituary

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cazenave, Louis De 1897 births 2008 deaths People from Haute-Loire French pacifists French military personnel of World War I French supercentenarians Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France) Men supercentenarians

Biography

See also

References

External links