Roger Souchère (21 February 1899 – 2 July 1963) was a French architect who participated in the
French Resistance during World War II (1939–45).
Life
Roger Georges Scipion Souchère was born on 21 February 1899 in
Courbevoie
Courbevoie () is a commune located in the Hauts-de-Seine Department of the ÃŽle-de-France region of France. It is in the suburbs of the city of Paris, from the center of Paris. The centre of Courbevoie is situated from the city limits of Par ...
, Hauts-de-Seine.
He attended the
École Centrale Paris and the
École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts.
He became and architect and an engineer of arts and manufactures.
In 1936
Jacques Arthuys
Jacques Arthuys (15 February 1894 – 9 September 1943) was a French industrialist, a right-wing intellectual and early leader of the French Fascist movement.
He was initially a Paneuropean Union, pan-European but became opposed to the Nazi movem ...
, the industrialist Pierre Lefaurichon and Roger Souchère launched the ''Mouvement des classes moyennes'' (Movement of the middle classes), based in Paris.
Souchère was a member of the
Freemason
Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...
s, but resigned from the "Center des Amis" No. 1 in 1937.
On 15 April 1940, just before the
Fall of France
The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the German invasion of France during the Second World ...
, he asked to be reinstated in the Freemasons.
During
World War II (1939–45) Souchère joined the French Resistance, and was one of the co-founders of the
Organisation civile et militaire (OCM), a resistance group led by Jacques Arthuys and lieutenant-colonel
Alfred Touny
Alfred Touny (24 October 1886 – April 1944) was a French soldier, lawyer and businessman who became one of the leaders of the French Resistance during World War II (1939–45). He was arrested by the Gestapo towards the end of the war and shot.
...
.
The OCM was formed in the occupied zone at the end of 1940.
Arthuys led the movement and was assisted by Souchère as Chief of Staff, Jean Mayer in charge of the first and third Bureaus, Touny for the 2nd Bureau, and
Maxime Blocq-Mascart
Maxime Blocq-Mascart (17 November 1894 – 14 July 1965) was a French banker, economist and lobbyist who became a leader of the French Resistance during World War II (1939–45).
He had antisemitic sympathies. He headed the conservative Organisa ...
for Civil matters.
Souchère became a captain in the 18th region of the
French Forces of the Interior.
He was arrested, and was deported from
Compiègne on 16 April 1943, reaching
Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp in Germany two days later.
He was released on 24 April 1945, and repatriated to
Annecy
Annecy ( , ; frp, Èneci or ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. It lies on the northern tip of Lake Annecy, south of Geneva, Switzerland. Nicknamed ...
on 29 April 1945.
After the war, Souchère was editor-in-chief of the journal ''Connaissance de l'homme'' (1954–56).
In February 1957 he was a member of the committee of the ''Amicale de Mauthausen''.
Roger Souchère died on 2 July 1963.
Publications
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Notes
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Souchere, Roger
1899 births
1963 deaths
People from Courbevoie
École des Beaux-Arts alumni
20th-century French architects
French Resistance members
Commandeurs of the Légion d'honneur
Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France)
Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery