Maurice César Joseph Pellé (18 April 1863 – 16 March 1924) was a French

général de division Divisional general is a general officer rank who commands an army division. The rank originates from the French (Revolutionary) System, and is used by a number of countries. The rank is above a brigade general, and normally below an army corps ...

, leader of the

French Military Mission to Czechoslovakia French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

and first Chief of staff of Czechoslovak Army from February 1919 to January 1921.

Early life and education

He was born on 18 April 1863 to Charles Henri Joseph Pellé, French artillery officer and later general, and his wife Céline Virginie Aimée Augustine Pellé (née Bruneau). He studied at Douai lycée, from October 1882 to July 1884 at

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 ...

and to July 1885 at École d'application de l'artillerie. In 1888–1889 he studied at École d'application de Cavallerie.

Military career

In September 1885 he was assigned to 12th Artillery Regiment as a platoon commander. In December 1888 he became an instructor at École d'application de l'artillerie. In November 1891 he was appointed to 11th Artillery Regiment as a first officer and in April 1892 to 16th Artillery Regiment as a deputy commander. Between 1900 and 1903, he was chief of staff of Colonel Joffre in Madagascar.
As a Colonel, Pellé was the French military attaché in Berlin, in the service of Ambassador

Jules Cambon Jules-Martin Cambon (5 April 1845 – 19 September 1935) was a French diplomat and brother to Paul Cambon. As the ambassador to Germany (1907–1914) he worked hard to secure a friendly détente. He was frustrated by French leaders such as Raym ...

between 1909 and 1912. In this period he met many German personalities and became an expert on the German Empire.
In 1913, he was transferred to Morocco, as chief of staff to General

Hubert Lyautey Louis Hubert Gonzalve Lyautey (17 November 1854 – 27 July 1934) was a French Army general and colonial administrator. After serving in Indochina and Madagascar, he became the first French Resident-General in Morocco from 1912 to 1925. Early in ...

. At the outbreak of World War I, he commanded the 2nd Moroccan Brigade, but was right away called by Joffre to serve in the Bureau for External Theatres of War of the Grand Quartier Général.
In December 1916 he was placed at the head of the 153rd Infantry Division with which he distinguished himself at the Second Battle of the Aisne. Promoted to ''Général de division'' on 2 May 1917, he took command of the

5th Army Corps (France) The 5th Army Corps was a military unit of the French Army which fought in the Franco-Prussian War and both World War A world war is an international conflict which involves all or most of the world's major powers. Conventionally, the term is ...

until January 1919. With this corps he participated in the German spring offensive and Hundred Days Offensive (Noyon, Marne and Argonne).

Czechoslovakia and Constantinople

After the war he was leader of the French Military Mission to Czechoslovakia and one of the fathers and first Chief of staff of the new Czechoslovak Army. In 1921, he becomes French High Commissioner for the Orient and Ambassador in Constantinople. He signed the

Armistice of Mudanya The Armistice of Mudanya (in Turkish: ''Mudanya Mütarekesi'') was an agreement between Turkey (the Grand National Assembly of Turkey) on the one hand, and Italy, France, and Britain on the other hand, signed in the Ottoman town of Mudanya, in t ...

for France and was leader of the French delegation at the Conference of Lausanne, which led to the Treaty of Lausanne signed on 24 July 1923, which defined the borders of the modern Turkish Republic. He died the next year, only 60 years old.
He is buried in the

Batignolles Cemetery The Batignolles Cemetery (french: Cimetière des Batignolles) is a cemetery in Paris. History Batignolles Cemetery opened on 22 August 1833. Part of the cemetery had to be closed and the graves moved because of the construction of the great ring ...

in Paris.

Decorations

Awarded by Belgium: : BEL - Order of Leopold - Grand Officer bar

Order of Leopold (Grand Officer) : BEL Kroonorde Grootofficier BAR

Order of the Crown (Grand Officer) : BEL Croix de Guerre WW1 ribbon

Croix de guerre Awarded by Czechoslovakia: :

Order of the White Lion The Order of the White Lion ( cs, Řád Bílého lva) is the highest order of the Czech Republic. It continues a Czechoslovak order of the same name created in 1922 as an award for foreigners (Czechoslovakia had no civilian decoration for its ...

(Grand Cross) : Czechoslovak War Cross 1918 Ribbon

War Cross 1918 Awarded by France: : Legion Honneur GC ribbon

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 ...

(Grand Cross) : Croix de Guerre 1914-1918 ribbon

Croix de guerre 1914–1918 Croix (French for "cross") may refer to: Belgium * Croix-lez-Rouveroy, a village in municipality of Estinnes in the province of Hainaut France * Croix, Nord, in the Nord department * Croix, Territoire de Belfort, in the Territoire de Belfort depa ...

(thrice) : Palmes academiques Officier ribbon

Ordre des Palmes Académiques A suite, in Western classical music and jazz, is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral/ concert band pieces. It originated in the late 14th century as a pairing of dance tunes and grew in scope to comprise up to five dances, sometimes with ...

(Officer) Awarded by Italy: : Grande ufficiale SSML Regno BAR

Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus (Grand Officer) Awarded by Japan: : JPN Kyokujitsu-sho 2Class BAR

Order of the Rising Sun (2nd Class) Awarded by Marocco: : MAR Order of the Ouissam Alaouite - Grand Officer (1913-1956) BAR

Order of Ouissam Alaouite Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...

(2nd Class) Awarded by Persia: :

Order of the Lion and the Sun The Imperial Order of the Lion and the Sun ( Persian: نشان سلطنتی شیر و خورشید) was instituted by Fat’h Ali Shah of the Qajar dynasty in 1808 to honour foreign officials (later extended to Iranians) who had rendered disting ...

(1st Class) Awarded by Romania: : Order of the Star of Romania - Ribbon bar

Order of the Star of Romania (Grand Cross) Awarded by Russia: : Order of Saint Anna ribbon bar

Order of St. Anna The Imperial Order of Saint Anna (russian: Орден Святой Анны; also "Order of Saint Anne" or "Order of Saint Ann") was a Holstein ducal and then Russian imperial order of chivalry. It was established by Karl Friedrich, Duke of Holst ...

(1st Class) Awarded by Serbia: : SRB Orden Belog Orla BAR

Order of the White Eagle (2nd Class) Awarded by Spain: : Order of Military Merit (2nd Class) Awarded by Tunisia: : Ordre du Nichan Iftikhar Chevalier ribbon (Tunisia)

Ordre du Nichan Iftikhar Chevalier ribbon (Tunisia)

Order of Glory Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...

(5th Class) Awarded by United Kingdom: : Order of the Bath (ribbon)

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...

(Knight Commander)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pelle, Maurice French generals 1863 births 1924 deaths People from Douai Collège Stanislas de Paris alumni École Polytechnique alumni French military personnel of World War I Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France) Recipients of the Croix de guerre (Belgium) Grand Officers of the Order of the Crown (Belgium) Grand Officers of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun, 2nd class Grand Crosses of the Order of the Star of Romania Honorary Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Grand Croix of the Légion d'honneur Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 1st class Chiefs of the General Staff (Czechoslovakia) Recipients of the Order of the White Lion French military attachés Burials at Batignolles Cemetery