Jean Frydman (26 June 1925 – 14 March 2021) was a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

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 ...

during World War II and businessman. He received the ''Légion d'honneur'' in 2016 for his wartime efforts.

Resistance

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, at the age of 15 he rallied the ''France libre'' (

Free France Free France (french: France Libre) was a political entity that claimed to be the legitimate government of France following the dissolution of the Third Republic. Led by French general , Free France was established as a government-in-exile ...

). In the summer of 1944, he escaped from the deportation train that was taking him and many others from the

Drancy internment camp Drancy internment camp was an assembly and detention camp for confining Jews who were later deported to the extermination camps during the German occupation of France during World War II. Originally conceived and built as a modernist urban commu ...

Buchenwald Buchenwald (; literally 'beech forest') was a Nazi concentration camp established on hill near Weimar, Germany, in July 1937. It was one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps within Germany's 1937 borders. Many actual or sus ...

. One of the deportees in the same train car was

Marcel Dassault Marcel Dassault (born Marcel Ferdinand Bloch; 23 January 1892 – 17 April 1986) was a French engineer and industrialist who spent his career in aircraft manufacturing. Early life and education Born on 23 January 1892 in Paris, he was the young ...

. Jean-Francois Chaigneau, “Le Dernier Wagon”, Paris, ''France Loisirs'', 1982 For his brave patriotism, he was bestowed the ''

Légion d'honneur 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 ...

'' by the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

François Hollande in May 2016.

Man of communication

He was among the first managers of radio station

Europe 1 Europe 1, formerly known as Europe n° 1, is a privately owned radio station created in 1955. Owned and operated by Lagardère Active, a subsidiary of the Lagardère Group, it is one of the leading radio broadcasting stations in France and its pr ...

between 1957 and 1962; he headed

Télé Monte Carlo TMC (; originally short for Télé Monte-Carlo) is a Franco– Monégasque general entertainment television channel, owned by the French media holding company Groupe TF1. History The oldest private channel in Europe, TMC dates back to 1954, i ...

, and was then director of the advertising agency Régie n°1. He was dubbed "the secret gardener of the French audiovisual sector".

Businessman

After having been forced to leave the Board of Paravision, audiovisual branch of

L'Oréal L'Oréal S.A. () is a French personal care company headquartered in Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine with a registered office in Paris. It is the world's largest cosmetics company and has developed activities in the field concentrating on hair color, ...

, he revealed the past life of

André Bettencourt André Bettencourt (; 21 April 1919 – 19 November 2007) was a French politician. He was awarded the Croix de Guerre, and was a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor. He had been a member of La Cagoule, a violent French fascist-leaning and anti- ...

during WW2,

Michael Bar-Zohar Michael Bar-Zohar ( he, מיכאל בר-זהר, born 30 January 1938) is an Israeli historian, novelist and politician. He was a member of the Knesset on behalf of the Alignment and Labor Party in the 1980s and early 1990s. Biography Born in Bul ...

, ''Bitter Scent: The Case of L'Oréal, Nazis, and the Arab Boycott'', London, ''Dutton Books'', 1996 forcing him to express regrets about "past mistakes".�
André Bettencourt
», ''Telegraph'', 23 novembre 2007

Politics

Since resisting the Nazis' control over France in his teens, Frydman spent his life following, advocating liberty and peace. That led him to become involved at the highest level of negotiation between Israel and Palestine, as he advised Shimon Peres,

Yitzhak Rabin Yitzhak Rabin (; he, יִצְחָק רַבִּין, ; 1 March 1922 – 4 November 1995) was an Israeli politician, statesman and general. He was the fifth Prime Minister of Israel, serving two terms in office, 1974–77, and from 1992 until h ...

, and Ehud Barak. As such, he was instrumental in starting the

Oslo Peace Accords The Oslo I Accord or Oslo I, officially called the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements or short Declaration of Principles (DOP), was an attempt in 1993 to set up a framework that would lead to the resolution of th ...

. Frydman served as a member of the Advisory Board of the

Israel Council on Foreign Relations The Israel Council on Foreign Relations (ICFR) is an independent, non-partisan forum for the study and debate of foreign policy issues, especially those relating to the State of Israel and the Jewish people. The ICFR publishes a triannual policy a ...

Personal life

Jean Frydman had six children, ten grandchildren, and was married to Daniela Frydman until his death. He was a friend of former French President

Valéry Giscard d'Estaing Valéry René Marie Georges Giscard d'Estaing (, , ; 2 February 19262 December 2020), also known as Giscard or VGE, was a French politician who served as President of France from 1974 to 1981. After serving as Minister of Finance under prime ...

, former Israeli President Shimon Peres, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, and former IMF Managing Director

Dominique Strauss-Kahn Dominique Gaston André Strauss-Kahn (; born 25 April 1949), also known as DSK, is a French economist and politician who served as the tenth managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and was a member of the French Socialist P ...

. Frydman died in

Savyon Savyon ( he, סַבְיוֹן) is an affluent local council in the Central District of Israel, bordering the cities of Kiryat Ono and Yehud. Ranked 10/10 on the Israeli socio-economic scale, it is one of the wealthiest municipalities in Israel. ...

, Israel, on 14 March 2021, at the age of 95.Mort de Jean Frydman, résistant, homme d’affaires et militant pour la paix en Israël

References

External links

Élie Barnavi Élie Barnavi (born 1946) is an Israeli historian and diplomat, who was the Israeli ambassador to France between 2000 and 2002. Born in Bucharest he moved as a child to Tel Aviv, Israel. He authored some fifteen books on France and Europe in the ...

, "Jean Frydman, Tableaux d'une vie", , 2008 *

Jean-Pierre Chaline Jean-Pierre Chaline (18 December 1939, Orléans), is a French contemporary historian, a specialist of the history of the French Third Republic. Biography The father of Olivier Chaline, a historian specializing in Central Europe in the modern era ...

, « André Bettencourt (1919-2007) », dans ''

Études normandes Études is French for "studies". It is used as a name for several music or dance works, including: * ''Études'' (Chopin), three sets of studies for the piano by Frédéric Chopin, composed between 1829 and 1839 * ''Études'' (Debussy), a set of 1 ...

'' , 2008-1 {{DEFAULTSORT:Frydman, Jean 1925 births 2021 deaths Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur 20th-century French businesspeople French people of Polish-Jewish descent French politicians Jews in the French resistance L'Oréal people