Léon Roger Weil (16 July 1896 – 6 June 2006) was one of the last two surviving veterans of the battle of

Val-de-Marne Val-de-Marne (, "Vale of the Marne") is a department of France located in the Île-de-France region. Named after the river Marne, it is situated in the Grand Paris metropolis to the southeast of the City of Paris. In 2019, Val-de-Marne had a pop ...

the First World War 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 ...

. He was almost 110 when he died at the

Val-de-Grâce The (' or ') was a military hospital located at in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, France. It was closed as a hospital in 2016. History The church of the was built by order of Queen Anne of Austria, wife of Louis XIII. After the birth of h ...

military hospital 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 ...

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 ...

. Joining the army when he was 20 years old, he was assigned to the fifth battalion of chasseurs à pied (cinquième bataillon de chasseurs à pied) in

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

and took part in 1917 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 ...

. More than 150,000 people died during this battle. He was also a

French Resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...

fighter during

the Second World War 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

under the code name of ''Victor''. After the war, he worked as a sales representative in the women's fashion industry. A fan of theatre and boxing (he was quite a good boxer in his younger days), he continued to swim until the age of 102. At the time of his death he was one of the last seven surviving officially recognized French veterans of World War I.

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Photo and details

The Star, Malaysia. Death of Leon Weil, 109, leaves France with six surviving veterans of World War I
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weil, Leon 1896 births 2006 deaths French centenarians Men centenarians French Army soldiers French Resistance members Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur French military personnel of World War I