Pierre Simon (1885–1977), was the first président-directeur général (PDG) of

Électricité de France Électricité de France S.A. (literally ''Electricity of France''), commonly known as EDF, is a French multinational electric utility company, largely owned by the French state. Headquartered in Paris, with €71.2 billion in revenues in 2 ...

(EDF) and a member of 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 ...

. Simon was a student of the Christian school in

Mées Mées (; oc, Mers) is a commune in the Landes department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in south-western France. Notable people * Andrée Viollis (1870–1950), journalist and writer See also *Communes of the Landes department The following is a li ...

and then at the l'Institution Sainte-Geneviève in

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, u ...

. He was a civil engineer at Gap, Chief of Staff to the Minister of Public Works in 1924, Chief Engineer of ''Forces hydrauliques'' – ''dams'' in

Grenoble lat, Gratianopolis , commune status = Prefecture and commune , image = Panorama grenoble.png , image size = , caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...

in 1925, and some years later, he became head of the Department of Roads and Bridges in

Isère Isère ( , ; frp, Isera; oc, Isèra, ) is a landlocked department in the southeastern French region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Named after the river Isère, it had a population of 1,271,166 in 2019.Vichy France 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 ter ...

reorganized the Ministries. An Electric Directory was created, attached to the Ministry of Industrial Production. In October, Simon was dismissed and reassigned to the ''

Conseil général des ponts et chaussées The Conseil général des Ponts et Chaussées (CGPC "Civil Engineering General Council") is one of the oldest institutions in France and the direct heir of the assembly of inspectors general of bridges and roads, which met regularly from 1747 und ...

''. He then entered the private sector, taking over operations for ''Durand, l'Entreprise Industrielle''. During the

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

, he was a

resistor A resistor is a passive two-terminal electrical component that implements electrical resistance as a circuit element. In electronic circuits, resistors are used to reduce current flow, adjust signal levels, to divide voltages, bias active el ...

and kept in touch with

Marcel Paul Marcel Paul (12 July 1900, Paris — 11 November 1982) was a French trade unionist and communist politician. He was also a Nazi concentration camp survivor and later served as a member of the French parliament. Biography Marcel Paul was a ...

and the ''Fédération illégale de l'Éclairage'' – ''Illegal Lighting Federation''. During liberation, Simon participated in some of the meetings for the commission that nationalized electricity, the CNR. After a vote, he accepted the proposal from Marcel Paul to become the first PDG of EDF. At the beginning of 1947,

Robert Lacoste Robert Lacoste (5 July 1898 – 8 March 1989) was a French politician. He was a socialist MP of the Dordogne from 1945 to 1958, and from 1962 to 1967. He then served as senator from 1971 to 1980. Biography Robert Lacoste was born at Azerat ...

asks Simon to take measures against staff. The government majority wanted to impose a pricing policy on EDF-GDF. On 2 May, Simon resigned. He returned to Durand and was considered Honorary Chair by the end of his life.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pierre Simon (1885-1977) French Resistance members Électricité de France École Polytechnique 1885 births 1977 deaths