Louis François Armand (17 January 1905 – 30 August 1971) was a French

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considerin ...

and senior

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

who managed several public companies, as well as had a significant role in World War II as an officer in the Resistance. He became the first president of the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) as chair of the

Armand Commission The Armand Commission was the first Commission of the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom), between 1958 and 1959. Its president was Louis Armand of France. There would be two further Commissions before the institutions of Euratom were merg ...

from 1958 to 1959 before he was elected to the

Académie Française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosop ...

in 1963. A station on Marseille Metro Line 1 opened in 2010 under Boulevard Louis-Armand bears his name.

Biography

Early years

Louis Armand was born in

Cruseilles Cruseilles (; Arpitan: ''Corzelyes''; Savoyard dialect: ''Croueselyes'') is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Southeastern France. In 2019, it had a population of 4,502. Cruseilles is on the A41 au ...

, Haute-Savoie, and studied in

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. Nickname ...

and in

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of ...

at the Lycée du Parc. He graduated second in his class from 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 ...

(class of 1924), then joined the

Corps des Mines The ''Corps des mines'' is the foremost technical Grand Corps of the French State (grands corps de l'Etat). It is composed of the state industrial engineers. The Corps is attached to the French Ministry of Economy and Finance. Its purpose is to e ...

and was major from

École des Mines 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, S ...

. He married his wife, Genevieve Gazel, in 1928.

Career

He joined the Compagnie du chemin de fer Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée (PLM) in 1934, transferring to the

Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Français The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (; abbreviated as SNCF ; French for "National society of French railroads") is France's national state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the country's national rail traffic ...

(SNCF) when the PLM was nationalised in 1938. In 1940–1941 he invented a method for preventing the calcification, furring up, of engine boilers called the ''Traitement Integral Armand'' (TIA) water treatment process for

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the loco ...

s.Direct Chemical Treatment of Boiler Water Compared to Lineside Treatment
During the

Second World War 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 opposi ...

he organized and led the Resistance group named

Résistance-Fer ''Résistance-Fer'' ( French; Railway-Resistance, or "Iron-Resistance") was a French Resistance group against the German occupation of France during the Second World War. This specific movement was essentially composed of French railway workers ...

, from February 1943 onwards. He was arrested by the

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one orga ...

on 25 June 1944. He was liberated from jail during the liberation of Paris, and was decorated with the Croix de la Liberation. In 1949, Armand was named the general manager of the

SNCF The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (; abbreviated as SNCF ; French for "National society of French railroads") is France's national state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the country's national rail traffic ...

and created the Société du tunnel sous la Manche in 1957. During this time, he pushed for the electrification of the rail system using AC voltage. From 1958 to 1959, he managed the European atomic energy commission (

Euratom The European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom) is an international organisation established by the Euratom Treaty on 25 March 1957 with the original purpose of creating a specialist market for nuclear power in Europe, by developing nucl ...

), having inspired its creation. In the late 1960s, after May 1968 in Paris, Louis Armand was instrumental in helping Christian LeClercq and the

Junior Chamber of Commerce The United States Junior Chamber, also known as the Jaycees, JCs or JCI USA, is a leadership training, service organization and civic organization for people between the ages of 18 and 40. It is a branch of Junior Chamber International (JCI). ...

of Brussels to start a new European thinktank and membership organization: "L'Entreprise de Demain - Forum for Tomorrow". This non-profit and non-political organization was soon going to leave the Junior Chamber of Commerce to become independent. To help that organization, Louis Armand, as a visionary global thinker, provided access to some of the best "global leaders" in international business, world politics, academia and scientific research who addressed the Forum, under the royal guidance of Baudouin I of Belgium. "L'Entreprise de Demain - Forum for Tomorrow" soon developed chapters in

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, allowing some of the most brilliant minds of the time to address corporate executives and share their views about the future of the world. Louis Armand wrote a book on "l'Entreprise de Demain" in 1970, and the history of the organization was also published in the "Que Sais-Je?" collection. In 1971, Louis Armand successfully pushed to have the word "creativity" included in the French dictionary. Armand died in

Villers-sur-Mer Villers-sur-Mer () is a commune in the Calvados department in Normandy, northwestern France, with a population of 2,644 as of 2017. Geography The commune is located on the French coast of the English Channel, on the Côte Fleurie, between Dea ...

, at 66. Without the visionary inspiration and guidance of Louis Armand, "L'Entreprise de Demain - Forum for Tomorrow" could never have been formed. The worldwide organization lasted for well over 20 years. Its founder and international president, Christian LeClercq, died in July 2011.

Bibliography

*1961 : ''Plaidoyer pour l’avenir'' *1965 : ''De la Savoie au Val d’Aoste par le tunnel du Mont-Blanc'' *1968 : ''Simples propos'' *1968 : ''Le pari européen'' (with Michel Drancourt) *1969 : ''Propos ferroviaires'' *1970 : ''De la cybernétique à l’intéressement'' *1970 : ''L’Entreprise de demain'' *1974 : ''Message pour ma patrie professionnelle''

References

* Buzaré, Josette (2000). ''Louis Armand, le savoyard du siècle''. Saint-Julien-en-Genevois, France: Éd. La Salévienne.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Armand, Louis 1905 births 1971 deaths People from Haute-Savoie Members of the Académie Française French Resistance members 20th-century French engineers French people in rail transport Italian European Commissioners Companions of the Liberation Grand Officiers of the Légion d'honneur SNCF people