Abbé René de Naurois (24 November 1906 – 12 January 2006) was a French

Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the Holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in layman's terms ''priest'' refers only ...

, chaplain, and ornithologist.

Second World War

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 ...

Naurois assisted 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 ...

, helped organise the escape of

Jew 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""T ...

s from occupied France to Switzerland and

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. He himself escaped from Vichy via Barcelona, Gibraltar arriving at Liverpool, and was one of the 177 Kieffer Commandos who took part in the

Normandy Landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and ...

on 6 June 1944. Honours received by de Naurois for his wartime activities include the

Ordre de la Libération The Order of Liberation (french: Ordre de la Libération) is a French Order which was awarded to heroes of the Liberation of France during World War II. It is a very high honour, second only after the ''Légion d’Honneur'' (Legion of Honour) ...

and the title of

Righteous among the Nations Righteous Among the Nations ( he, חֲסִידֵי אֻמּוֹת הָעוֹלָם, ; "righteous (plural) of the world's nations") is an honorific used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to sa ...

Ornithology

Following the war Naurois became involved in ornithology, especially of the coast of

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, M ...

and its offshore islands. His doctoral

thesis A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: ...

, which he defended in 1969 at the age of 63, was titled "Populations and breeding cycles of birds of the western coast of Africa from Cape Barbas, Spanish Sahara to the frontier of the Republic of Guinea".

Publications

As well as numerous papers in the scientific literature, books authored or coauthored by Naurois include: * 1994 – ''Les oiseaux des iles du Golfe de Guinee: Sao Tome, Prince et Annobon''. Ministerio do Planeamento e da Administracao do Territorio, Secretaria de Estado da Ciencia e Tecnologia, Instituto de Investigacao Cientifica Tropical. . (In French and Portuguese). * 2004 – ''Aumônier de la France Libre - Mémoires''. (With Jean Chaunu). Éditions Perrin.

References

External links

René de Naurois
– his activity to save Jews' lives during the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

, at

Yad Vashem Yad Vashem ( he, יָד וַשֵׁם; literally, "a memorial and a name") is Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; honoring Jews who fought against th ...

website 1906 births 2006 deaths 20th-century French Roman Catholic priests Abbés French ornithologists Companions of the Liberation French Righteous Among the Nations Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France) Commandeurs of the Légion d'honneur 20th-century French zoologists {{ornithologist-stub