Émile Dewoitine (26 September 1892 – 5 July 1979) was a French aviation industrialist.

Prewar industrial activities

Born in Crépy-en-Laonnais, Émile Dewoitine entered the aviation industry by working at Latécoère during

World War I 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 ...

. In 1920, he founded his own company, but facing little success at home, went to Switzerland where his Dewoitine D.27 fighter was accepted for operational service. In 1931, Dewoitine went back to France and founded Société Aéronautique Française - Avions Dewoitine. During the 1930s, several noteworthy aircraft rolled out of the

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Pa ...

-based Dewoitine factories including the

Dewoitine D.500 The Dewoitine D.500 was an all-metal, open- cockpit, fixed- undercarriage monoplane fighter aircraft designed and produced by French aircraft manufacturer Dewoitine. Developed from a specification issued by the French Air Ministry during 1930 ...

, the French Air Force's first fully metallic, monoplane fighter, as well as the

Dewoitine D.338 The Dewoitine D.338 was a 1930s French 22-passenger airliner built by Dewoitine. Design and development The D.338 was a development of the D.333 with retractable undercarriage. First flown in 1936 it had a slightly increased wingspan, and t ...

airliner. In 1936, part of the French aviation industry was nationalized and Dewoitine's factories were absorbed by the state-owned

SNCAM Société nationale des constructions aéronautiques du Midi (abbreviated SNCAM) was a state-owned French aircraft manufacturer. The company was formed following the resolution of the 1936 general strike of French heavy industry, when the governm ...

. During the Battle of France in 1940, the

Dewoitine D.520 The Dewoitine D.520 was a French fighter aircraft that entered service in early 1940, shortly after the beginning of the Second World War. The D.520 was designed in response to a 1936 requirement from the French Air Force for a fast, modern fi ...

turned out to be France's best fighter aircraft.

World War II

After the successful invasion of France by Germany in 1940 culminated in an

armistice with Germany The Armistice of 11 November 1918 was the armistice signed at Le Francport near Compiègne that ended fighting on land, sea, and air in World War I between the Entente and their last remaining opponent, Germany. Previous armistices ...

and the creation of the Vichy government, Dewoitine briefly tried to start a business in the United States. This caused him to be tried for treason under the

Vichy government 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 terr ...

. Dewoitine went back to work with

SIPA Sipa (literally, "kick") is the Philippines' traditional native sport which predates the Spanish rule. The game is related to Sepak Takraw. Similar games include Footbag net, Footvolley, Bossaball and Jianzi. The game is both played by two ...

which, after an agreement between the Vichy government and German authorities, was manufacturing trainer aircraft intended for the

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

, including a derivative of the

Arado Ar 96 The Arado Ar 96 was a German single-engine, low-wing monoplane of all-metal construction, produced by Arado Flugzeugwerke. It was the '' Luftwaffe''s standard advanced trainer during World War II. Design and development Designed by Walter B ...

, which would later be known as the SIPA S.10.

Postwar exile

Facing charges of

collaborationism Wartime collaboration is cooperation with the enemy against one's country of citizenship in wartime, and in the words of historian Gerhard Hirschfeld, "is as old as war and the occupation of foreign territory". The term ''collaborator'' dates to ...

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, Free French forces in London and Africa, as well as the French Resistance. Nazi Germany inv ...

, Dewoitine moved to Spain, where he developed a derivative of the D.520 with Hispano Aviación. He later went to Argentina, where he worked for the ''Industria Aeronáutica Militar'', developing the Pulqui I, the first South American jet plane, and Colibrí, a trainer aircraft. In France, Dewoitine was condemned ''in absentia'' to a 20-year forced labour term in 1948.''

American Jewish Year Book The ''American Jewish Year Book'' (AJYB) has been published since 1899. Publication was initiated by the Jewish Publication Society (JPS). In 1908, the American Jewish Committee (AJC) assumed responsibility for compilation and editing while JPS ...

, 2006, p.26
available here
At the end of this career, he resided in Switzerland. Once his crimes were prescribed, he returned to France and finished his life in

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dewoitine 1979 deaths 1892 births French expatriates in Spain French expatriates in Argentina French collaborators with Nazi Germany 20th-century French engineers French expatriates in Switzerland French industrialists