Roger Gaspard (April 27, 1902 – August 14, 1982) was a French engineer and 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 ...

Biography

The son of a colonial artillery officer, Roger Gaspard was a student at the

École Polytechnique École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

, the

École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

, and the

École supérieure d'électricité École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Sav ...

. He was an engineer and then Chief engineer of the Department of Roads and Bridges of

Seine ) , mouth_location = Le Havre/Honfleur , mouth_coordinates = , mouth_elevation = , progression = , river_system = Seine basin , basin_size = , tributaries_left = Yonne, Loing, Eure, Risle , tributarie ...

from 1927 to 1942. Gaspard was also Chief of Staff of

Paul Ramadier Paul Ramadier (17 March 1888 in La Rochelle – 14 October 1961 in Rodez) was a French statesman. Biography The son of a psychiatrist, Ramadier graduated in law from the University of Toulouse and started his profession as a lawyer in Paris ...

, Secretary of State for Public Works between June 1936 and January 1938, and then Director of Electricity at the Ministry of Industrial Production. Gaspard represented the government at the Committee for the Organization of Electric Power between 1942 and 1946. A member of the French Resistance, Gaspard was arrested and imprisoned for hiding copper from the German authorities. After the

liberation of France The liberation of France in the Second World War was accomplished through diplomacy, politics and the combined military efforts of the Allied Powers of World War II, Allied Powers, Free French forces in London and Africa, as well as the French R ...

and the nationalization of the electricity sector, Gaspard began a career at

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 became a deputy director general in 1946,

director general A director general or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals'' ) or general director is a senior executive (government), executive officer, often the chief executive offi ...

from 1947 to 1962, and then chairman from 1962 to 1964. At the same time, he was vice-chair of the

Compagnie nationale du Rhône The Compagnie Nationale du Rhône (CNR) is a French electricity generation company, mainly supplying renewable power from hydroelectric facilities on the Rhone. Operations Established in 1933, as of 2009 the company derives most of its power fr ...

from 1946 to 1962 and Chair of

Schneider Electric Schneider Electric SE is a French multinational company that specializes in digital automation and energy management. It addresses homes, buildings, data centers, infrastructure and industries, by combining energy technologies, real-time automation ...

from 1966 to 1969. Gaspard was Chair of the ''Ligue nationale contre le cancer'' – ''National League Against Cancer'' from 1971 to 1981.

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gaspard, Roger École des Ponts ParisTech alumni French Resistance members Électricité de France 1902 births 1982 deaths École Polytechnique alumni French engineers 20th-century French engineers