Paul Rivière (22 November 191215 December 1998) was a French

Resistance fighter A resistance movement is an organized group of people that tries to resist or try to overthrow a government or an occupying power, causing disruption and unrest in civil order and stability. Such a movement may seek to achieve its goals through ei ...

and politician. He joined the Resistance from 1941 and took part in the

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia (historically known as Indochina and the Indochinese Peninsula) is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to th ...

and Algeria Wars.

Biography

Early life

Paul Rivière was born in Montagny in the Loire Department in central

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Resistance activities

In 1939, he was called up as an instructor for Cadets de Saumur. He was injured during the fighting for Pont de Gennes, then demobilised and returned to his position as a literature professor in the Saint-Joseph Jesuit Day School in Lyon. In late February 1941, Father Chaillet, Jesuit in Lyon, put him in touch with

Henri Frenay Henri Frenay Sandoval (11 November 1905 – 8 August 1988) was a French military officer and French Resistance member, who served as minister of prisoners, refugees and deportees in Charles de Gaulle's Provisional Government of the French Republic ...

and

Berty Albrecht Berty Albrecht (15 February 1893 – 31 May 1943) was a French feminist and French Resistance martyr of the Second World War. Pre-war life Berthe Wild was born into a Protestant family of Swiss origin, but of the Marseille bourgeoisie. She studie ...

and he became involved in the French resistance. In early 1942, he abandoned propaganda for action and became liaison officer for

Jean Moulin Jean Pierre Moulin (; 20 June 1899 – 8 July 1943) was a French civil servant and hero of the French Resistance who succeeded in unifying the main networks of the Resistance in World War II, a unique act in Europe. He served as the first Presid ...

, General

Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French general and statesman who led the Free France, Free French Forces against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Re ...

's representative in France and the leader of the internal Resistance. After a first airdrop, he was arrested and detained for four months by the

Vichy France Vichy France (; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was a French rump state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II, established as a result of the French capitulation after the Battle of France, ...

Police. Upon his release, he continued his mission clandestinely until the end of War. With the

Mouvements unis de la Résistance The Communist Party of Belgium (, , abbr. PCB) is a communist party in Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is border ...

(MUR), he was deeply involved in the organization of radio transmission services and covert air operations for Southern France. After the Jean Moulin arrest in

Caluire Caluire-et-Cuire (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Metropolis of Lyon in the departments of France, department of Rhône (department), Rhône, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, eastern France. It is the fifth-largest suburb of the city of Lyon, a ...

, he was ordered by the Bureau Central de Renseignements et d'Action to reorganize the Landing-Airdrop Section (in French "Section Atterrissages-Parachutages" or SAP). He controlled the SAP until the end of War and was Head of Operations for the Rhône-Alpes Region where he organized the most important covert landing and airdrop operations : several hundred of tons of weapons and equipment and millions of French francs were so routed to the French resistance. He also organized the transfer of numerous personalities and agents between France and

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

: General

Jean de Lattre de Tassigny Jean Joseph Marie Gabriel de Lattre de Tassigny (2 February 1889 – 11 January 1952) was a French ''général d'armée'' during World War II and the First Indochina War. He was posthumously elevated to the dignity of Marshal of France in 1952. ...

Vincent Auriol Vincent Jules Auriol (; 27 August 1884 – 1 January 1966) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1947 to 1954. Early life and politics Auriol was born in Revel, Haute-Garonne, as the only child of Jacques Antoine Aurio ...

Emmanuel d'Astier de la Vigerie Emmanuel d'Astier de La Vigerie (6 January 190012 June 1969) was a French journalist, politician and member of the French Resistance. Biography Born in Paris, he attended the Naval Academy but resigned from the French Navy in 1923. He became a ...

Jacques Chaban-Delmas Jacques Chaban-Delmas (; 7 March 1915 – 10 November 2000) was a French Gaullist politician. He served as Prime Minister under Georges Pompidou from 1969 to 1972. He was the Mayor of Bordeaux from 1947 to 1995 and a deputy for the Gironde ''d ...

Maurice Bourgès-Maunoury Maurice Bourgès-Maunoury (19 August 1914 – 10 February 1993) was a French statesman and a member of the Companions of the Liberation. He served as President of the Council of Ministers (Prime Minister) under the Fourth French Republic. ...

, François de Menthon,

Daniel Mayer Daniel Raphaël Mayer (29 April 1909 – 29 December 1996) was a French politician and a member of the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO) and president of the ''Ligue des droits de l'homme'' (LDH, Human Rights League) from 1958 ...

Christian Pineau Christian Pineau (; 14 October 1904 – 5 April 1995) was a noted French Resistance fighter, who later served an important term as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1956 through 1958. Life and career Pineau was born in 1904 in Chaumont-en-Bass ...

Lucie Lucie is the French and Czech form of the female name Lucia. Notable people with the name include: Given name * Lucie Ahl (born 1974), British tennis player * Lucie Arnaz (born 1951), American actress * Lucie Aubrac (1912–2007), member of ...

and

Raymond Aubrac Raymond Aubrac (born Samuel, 31 July 1914 – 10 April 2012) was a member of the French Resistance in World War II. A civil engineer by trade, he assisted General Charles Delestraint within the ''Armée secrète''. Aubrac and his wife Lucie Aubr ...

After the war

He joined the military service in 1947 with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. He was Inspector General of the French Armed Forces, then he was sent to

for two years in 1953, to

Konstanz Konstanz ( , , , ), traditionally known as Constance in English, is a college town, university city with approximately 83,000 inhabitants located at the western end of Lake Constance in the Baden-Württemberg state of south Germany. The city ho ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

in 1955 then to

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

in 1956. From December 1956 to 1959, he was

Military Attache A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily Weapon, armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable ...

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, then security adviser in Algeria until

Évian Accords The Évian Accords were a set of declarations between the French Government and the Provisional Government of the Algerian Republic on 18 March 1962 in Évian-les-Bains which outlined the agreements for Algeria's Independence alongside coope ...

. From November 1962 until 1978, he was a member of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

, deputy of the Loire Department from 1962 to 1978 and mayor of

Montagny, Loire Montagny () is a commune in the Loire department in central France. Population See also *Communes of the Loire department The following is a list of the 320 communes of the Loire department of France. The communes cooperate in the foll ...

until 1983. During the same period, he sat on the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...

. He died on 15 December 1998 in

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

and was buried in Montagny.

Pseudonyms during French resistance

* François * Charles-Henri * Sif bis * Galvani * Marquis

Military honours

Commander of the Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and civil. Currently consisting of five classes, it was ...

Order of Liberation The Order of Liberation (, ) is a French Order which was awarded to heroes of the Liberation of France during World War II. It is a worn by recipients only before the ''Légion d’Honneur'' (Legion of Honour). In the official portrait of G ...

* War Cross 1939–1945 (6 citations) *

Cross for Military Valour The Cross for Military Valour () is a military decoration of France. It recognizes an individual bestowed a Mention in Dispatches earned for showing valour in presence of an enemy, in theatres of operations which are not subject to the award of ...

(3 citations) * Medal of the Resistance with Officer rosette *

Colonial Medal The Colonial Medal () was a French decoration created by the "loi de finances" of 26 July 1893 (article 75) to reward "military services in the colonies, resulting from participation in military operations, in a colony or a protectorate". A decr ...

with clasp "Far East" * Cross of the Volunteer Combatant of the Resistance *

Escapees' Medal The Escapees' Medal () is a military award bestowed by the government of France to individuals who were prisoners of war and who successfully escaped internment or died as a result of their escape attempt. The "Escapees' Medal" was established by ...

* Officer of the Most Excellent

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

Military Medal The Military Medal (MM) was a military decoration awarded to personnel of the British Army and other arms of the British Armed Forces, armed forces, and to personnel of other Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, below commissioned o ...

Order of the Crown (Belgium) The Order of the Crown (, ) is a national Order (decoration), order of the Belgium, Kingdom of Belgium. The Order is one of Belgium's highest honors. History The Order was established on October 15, 1897, by Leopold II of Belgium, King Leopold ...

(Officer) *

War Cross (Belgium) The ( French) or ''Oorlogskruis'' ( Dutch) is a military decoration of the Kingdom of Belgium established by royal decree on 25 October 1915. It was primarily awarded for bravery or other military virtue on the battlefield. The award was reesta ...

with Palm * Czechoslovak War Cross * Cross for Military Valour (

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

)

References

Bibliography

Hugh Verity Hugh Verity, (6 April 1918 – 14 November 2001) was a Royal Air Force fighter pilot and later a "special duties" squadron pilot working with the Special Operations Executive (SOE) during World War II. He landed many times at clandestine airfie ...

, "''We landed by moonlight''", Crécy publishing limited, 2000 * Centre d'Histoire de la Résistance et de la Déportation, "''Fonds d'archives Geneviève et Paul Rivière" – Les opérations aériennes (atterrissages, parachutages) en zone sud. 1941 - 1944'', Les grands fonds d'archives du CHRD, N°1. * Noguères Henri, Degliame-Fouche Marcel, Vigier Jean-Louis, ''Histoire de la Résistance en France de 1940 à 1945'', 5 vol, Paris, Robert Laffont, 1967–1981. * Vistel Alban, ''La nuit sans ombre. Histoire des mouvements unis de résistance, leur rôle dans la libération du sud-est'', Paris, Fayard, 1970. * All the personal archives of Paul et Geneviève Rivière are freely accessible in the Center for the History of the Resistance and Deportation in Lyon, France.

External links

Résistance Foundation Website

Center for the History of the Resistance and Deportation Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Riviere, Paul 1912 births 1998 deaths Rally of the French People politicians Democratic Union of Labour politicians Union of Democrats for the Republic politicians Deputies of the 2nd National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 3rd National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 4th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 5th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Members of Parliament for Loire Mayors of places in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes French military personnel of World War II French Resistance members French military personnel of the First Indochina War French military personnel of the Algerian War Companions of the Liberation Commanders of the Legion of Honour Recipients of the Cross for Military Valour Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France) Recipients of the Resistance Medal Officers of the Order of the British Empire Officers of the Order of the Crown (Belgium) Recipients of the Czechoslovak War Cross