Marquis Édouard Marie René Bardon de Segonzac (7 September 1867 – 27 March 1962) was a French army officer and explorer. He studied at the École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr before being commissioned and serving in the Ivory Coast where he was accused and acquitted of the murder of a fellow officer in the notorious Quiquerez-Segonzac affair( fr). He became renowned as an explorer and adventurer in

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...

and was also posted to

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

. In 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 became a pilot and received the

Legion of Honour 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 ...

and the Croix de Guerre.

Early life

Édouard Marie René Bardon de Segonzac was born in the Château des Essarts in Cuy,

Oise Oise ( ; ; pcd, Oése) is a department in the north of France. It is named after the river Oise. Inhabitants of the department are called ''Oisiens'' () or ''Isariens'', after the Latin name for the river, Isara. It had a population of 829,41 ...

on 7 September 1867. His parents were Édouard and Mathilde des Rioul de Segonzac. He entered military service in 1886, studying at the École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr and being in the first class to graduate from the

Châlons-en-Champagne Châlons-en-Champagne () is a city in the Grand Est region of France. It is the capital of the department of Marne, despite being only a quarter the size of the city of Reims. Formerly called Châlons-sur-Marne, the city was officially renam ...

campus in 1889. Upon receiving his commission he joined the cavalry and served in the occupation of San Pédro on the Ivory Coast in 1892. In October 1893, he was tried for the murder of Lieutenant Paul Quiquerez( fr) but was acquitted of all charges against him. Sometime thereafter de Segonzac returned to France before leaving from

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...

in November 1904 to serve in the winter campaign in Morocco.

First World War

During the

, de Segonzac served as a captain in the French military aviation corps. During the war he listed his address as Rue Dumont D'urville in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 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), ma ...

and in 1915 was posted to Chartres for a while. He was married and his wife, the Comtesse de Segonzac, resided in Compiegne. He remained a member of the ''Vieilles Tiges'' pilots association after the war. De Segonzac received the

and the Croix de Guerre during his military career and held several foreign decorations. He also held campaign medals for Tunisia and Morocco.

Later life

De Segonzac became renowned as an explorer and adventurer and may have served as the inspiration for Lieutenant André de Saint-Avit in Pierre Benoit's ''Atlantida'', in which one French officer murders another. He was also a writer publishing several books such as ''Voyages au Maroc (1899-1901)'' (''Voyages in Morocco'') in 1903 and ''La Légende de Florinda la Byzantine'' (''The legend of Florinda the Byzantin''e) in 1928, the latter illustrated by H. Zworykine and with a preface written by Marshal

Hubert Lyautey Louis Hubert Gonzalve Lyautey (17 November 1854 – 27 July 1934) was a French Army general and colonial administrator. After serving in Indochina and Madagascar, he became the first French Resident-General in Morocco from 1912 to 1925. Early in ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Segonzac, Rene de 1867 births 1962 deaths French Army officers French military personnel of World War I People from Oise Recipients of the Legion of Honour Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France)