Paul Adolphe Leblois (July 17, 1857 - August 28, 1930) was a

divisional general Divisional general is a general officer rank who commands an army division. The rank originates from the French (Revolutionary) System, and is used by a number of countries. The rank is above a brigade general, and normally below an army corps ...

of the

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government of France, along with the other components of the Armed For ...

who commanded the French 2nd Colonial Infantry Division and later the Armée française d'Orient during

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 ...

Early life

Paul Leblois was born in

Bas-Rhin Bas-Rhin (; Alsatian: ''Unterelsàss'', ' or '; traditional german: links=no, Niederrhein; en, Lower Rhine) is a department in Alsace which is a part of the Grand Est super-region of France. The name means 'Lower Rhine', referring to its low ...

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

on July 17, 1857. His father was a

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

who advocated a form of Protestant liberalism. He had a brother, , who was a lawyer for

Alfred Dreyfus Alfred Dreyfus ( , also , ; 9 October 1859 – 12 July 1935) was a French artillery officer of Jewish ancestry whose trial and conviction in 1894 on charges of treason became one of the most polarizing political dramas in modern French history. ...

during the

Dreyfus Affair The Dreyfus affair (french: affaire Dreyfus, ) was a political scandal that divided the French Third Republic from 1894 until its resolution in 1906. "L'Affaire", as it is known in French, has come to symbolise modern injustice in the Francop ...

, and a sister named who studied

natural sciences Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatab ...

Military career

By the early 1890s, Leblois was serving in the French Army and had reached the rank of

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

by 1893, during the Franco-Siamese War. He was awarded the rank of ''Chevalier'' of the

Legion of Honor 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 ...

in Hanoi in April 1894 for being a captain in the managing staff of France's Indo-Chinese troops. In 1903, Leblois was awarded the rank of ''Officier'' of the Legion of Honor and was by this point a

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

in the management over France's colonial infantry. Leblois later served as a divisional general over the 2nd Colonial Infantry Division in 1914, at the beginning of the First World War. Leblois led his 2nd Division during the

Battle of Rossignol The Battle of Rossignol (22 August 1914) one of the first battles of the First World War, was part of the Battle of the Frontiers on the Western Front between the German and French armies. To counter the German invasion of Belgium, the French com ...

in August 1914, providing support for the

3rd Colonial Infantry Division (France) The 3rd Colonial Infantry Division (french: 3e Division d'Infanterie Coloniale, 3e DIC) was a division of the French Marine Forces, comprising mostly French citizen troops. The 3rd Colonial Infantry Division fought in the First and Second world ...

. From October 1916 to February 1917, Leblois was a commander of the Armée française d'Orient, leading engagements on the

Macedonian front The Macedonian front, also known as the Salonica front (after Thessaloniki), was a military theatre of World War I formed as a result of an attempt by the Allied Powers to aid Serbia, in the autumn of 1915, against the combined attack of German ...

. His command of the "AFO" was replaced by

Paul François Grossetti Paul François Grossetti (; Paris, 10 September 1861 – Paris, 7 January 1918) was a French Army general during World War I. Early years Grossetti was born in Paris, the son of Paul François Grossetti (born in Grosseto-Prugna). His father was ...

. For his leadership, Leblois was awarded the

Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor 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, ...

in 1926.Base Léonore, p.1

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leblois, Paul 1857 births 1930 deaths Grand Croix of the Légion d'honneur French generals French military personnel of World War I