Marcel Dassault (born Marcel Ferdinand Bloch; 23 January 1892 – 17 April 1986) was a French engineer and industrialist who spent his career in

aircraft manufacturing An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines ...

Early life and education

Born on 23 January 1892 in Paris, he was the youngest of the four children of Adolphe Bloch, a doctor, and his wife Noémie Allatini. His parents were Jewish. He was educated at Lycée Condorcet in Paris. After studies in electrical engineering, he graduated from the Breguet School and Supaéro. At the latter school, Bloch was classmates with a Russian student named Mikhail Gurevich, who would later be instrumental in the creation of the MiG aircraft series.

Career

Bloch worked at the French Aeronautics Research Laboratory at

Chalais-Meudon Chalais-Meudon is an aeronautical research and development centre in Meudon, to the south-west of Paris. It was originally founded in 1793 in the nearby Château de Meudon and has played an important role in the development of French aviation. ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

and invented a type of aircraft propeller subsequently used by the French army during the conflict. In 1916, with Henry Potez and Louis Coroller, he formed a company, the ''

Société d'Études Aéronautiques The ''Société d'Études Aéronautiques (SEA)'' ("Society for Aeronautical Studies") was a French aircraft manufacturer founded in 1916 by Henry Potez, Marcel Bloch, and Louis Coroller at Suresnes. Having been established amid the First ...

'', to produce the SEA series of fighters. In 1928, Bloch founded the aircraft company '' Société des Avions Marcel Bloch'', which produced its first aircraft in 1930. In 1935, Bloch and Henry Potez entered into an agreement to buy '' Société Aérienne Bordelaise'' (SAB). In 1936, the company was

nationalized Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to priv ...

as the ''

Société Nationale de Constructions Aéronautiques du Sud Ouest SNCASO (abbreviated from ''Société nationale des constructions aéronautiques du Sud-Ouest'', or commonly, ''Sud-Ouest'') was a French aircraft manufacturer. Created during 1936 as one of seven nationalised aeronautical manufacturing companies ...

'' (SNCASO). Bloch agreed to become the delegated administrator of the Minister for Air. During the

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 ...

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

during World War II, France's aviation industry was virtually disbanded, other than the compulsory manufacturing, assembly, and servicing of German designs. In October 1940, Bloch refused to collaborate with the German occupiers at Bordeaux-Aéronautique and was imprisoned by the

Vichy government 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 terr ...

. In 1944, the Nazis deported Bloch to the

Buchenwald concentration camp Buchenwald (; literally 'beech forest') was a Nazi concentration camp established on hill near Weimar, Germany, in July 1937. It was one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps within Germany's 1937 borders. Many actual or s ...

, as punishment for refusing to co-operate with their regime. He was tortured, beaten, and held in solitary confinement. In the meantime, his wife was interned near Paris. Bloch was detained at Buchenwald until it was liberated on 11 April 1945. By the time of his return to Paris, he was crippled to such an extent that he could barely walk. He was advised by his doctors to settle his affairs, as they did not expect him to recover his health. After the war, he changed his name from Bloch to Bloch-Dassault and in 1949 to Dassault. This name was the ''

nom de guerre A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individu ...

'' used by his brother, General

Darius Paul Bloch Darius Paul Dassault ( Bloch; 13 January 1882 – 3 May 1969) was a French general who was in the French Résistance in World War II. He was born in Paris. His alias Dassault developed when he was in the French Résistance. The name alludes to th ...

, when he served in the

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 ...

, and is derived from ''char d'assault'', French for "tank".''char d'assault'' colloquially means "battle tank" in French, but a word-for-word translation would be "assault wagon". ''D'assault'' simply means "for assault" or "for attack". In 1971, Dassault acquired Breguet, forming ''Avions Marcel Dassault–Breguet Aviation'' (AMD–BA).

Personal life

In 1919, Bloch married Madeleine Minckes, the daughter of a wealthy Jewish family of furniture dealers. They had two sons, Claude and Serge. After changing his name to Dassault (nom de guerre from his brother General Paul Bloch was Chardasso and derived from char d’assaut for tank in French), he converted to the Roman Catholic Church in 1950. In July 1952, Dassault acquired the Paris landmark buildings now known as Hôtel Marcel Dassault, dating from 1844, at nos. 7 and 9 rond-point des Champs-Élysées (at the corner of the avenue des Champs-Élysées and avenue Montaigne), from the

Sabatier Sabatier is the maker's mark used by several kitchen knife manufacturers—by itself it is not a registered brand name. The name Sabatier is considered to imply a high-quality knife produced by one of a number of manufacturers in the Thiers ...

d'Espeyran family. The building at no. 7 has been used since 2002 by the auction house

Artcurial Artcurial is a French auction house which has its headquarters at the historic Hôtel Marcel Dassault in Paris. History In 2001, Nicolas Orlowski acquired the Artcurial Gallery from L'Oréal.Béatrice De RochebouetNicolas Orlowski, monsieur A ...

, which had further alterations made under the direction of architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte. While no. 7 has been sold, no. 9 is still used by the ''Groupe Industriel Marcel Dassault''. In 1973, Dassault was inducted into the

International Air & Space Hall of Fame The International Air & Space Hall of Fame is an honor roll of people, groups, organizations, or things that have contributed significantly to the advancement of aerospace flight and technology, sponsored by the San Diego Air & Space Museum. Sin ...

Death and legacy

Dassault died at

Neuilly-sur-Seine Neuilly-sur-Seine (; literally 'Neuilly on Seine'), also known simply as Neuilly, is a commune in the department of Hauts-de-Seine in France, just west of Paris. Immediately adjacent to the city, the area is composed of mostly select residentia ...

in 1986 and was buried at the

Passy Cemetery Passy Cemetery (french: Cimetière de Passy) is a small cemetery in Passy, in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, France. History The current cemetery replaced the old cemetery (''l'ancien cimetière communal de Passy'', located on Rue Lekain), ...

in the

16th arrondissement of Paris The 16th arrondissement of Paris (''XVIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is referred to as ''seizième''. The arrondissement includes part of the Arc de T ...

. Serge Dassault, Marcel's younger son, became CEO of ''Avions Marcel Dassault'', which was restructured as '' Groupe Industriel Marcel Dassault'', reflecting its broader interests. In 1990, the aviation division was renamed

Dassault Aviation Dassault Aviation SA () is a French manufacturer of military aircraft and business jets. It was founded in 1929 by Marcel Bloch as Société des Avions Marcel Bloch or "MB". After World War II, Marcel Bloch changed his name to Marcel D ...

. In 1991, the '' rond-point des Champs-Elysées'' in Paris was renamed the ''rond-point des Champs-Elysées-Marcel-Dassault'' in his honor.

In popular culture

In ''

The Adventures of Tintin ''The Adventures of Tintin'' (french: Les Aventures de Tintin ) is a series of 24 ''bande dessinée'' albums created by Belgian cartoonist Georges Remi, who wrote under the pen name Hergé. The series was one of the most popular European com ...

'' book '' Flight 714 to Sydney'', Dassault is parodied as the aircraft construction tycoon Laszlo Carreidas – "the millionaire who never laughs" – who offers Tintin, Captain Haddock and

Professor Calculus Professor Cuthbert Calculus (french: Professeur Tryphon Tournesol , meaning "Professor Tryphon Sunflower") is a fictional character in ''The Adventures of Tintin'', the comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé. He is Tintin's friend, an a ...

his personal jet, the Carreidas 160, to travel to Sydney.

Notes

References

External links