General Édouard Corniglion-Molinier (23 January 1898, in

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million Alpes-Maritimes Alpes-Maritimes (; ; ; ) is a Departments of France, department of France located in the country's southeast corner, on the France–Italy border, Italian border and Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast. Part of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'A ...

– 9 May 1963) was an

aviator An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators because they a ...

and member of the

French Resistance The French Resistance ( ) was a collection of groups that fought the German military administration in occupied France during World War II, Nazi occupation and the Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy#France, collaborationist Vic ...

, a member of the French government during the

French Fourth Republic The French Fourth Republic () was the republican government of France from 27 October 1946 to 4 October 1958, governed by the fourth republican constitution of 13 October 1946. Essentially a reestablishment and continuation of the French Third R ...

, and, in the 1930-1940s, a movie producer (

André Malraux Georges André Malraux ( ; ; 3 November 1901 – 23 November 1976) was a French novelist, art theorist, and minister of cultural affairs. Malraux's novel ''La Condition Humaine'' (''Man's Fate'') (1933) won the Prix Goncourt. He was appointed ...

's '' L'Espoir'' also known as ''Man's Hope''). He was a friend of

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. He was also involved in politics, serving intermittently over more than thr ...

and

Biography

Corniglion-Molinier joined the French Army in 1915 at the age of 17, falsifying his age. He was trained at the Ambérieu flying school where he obtained his fighter pilot's license on 27 April 1916. He fought as a fighter pilot on the Italian Front, where he contracted malaria. In June 1918, he was transferred to the Western Front where he flew missions until the end of the war. He received seven citations, the Legion of Honor and numerous foreign decorations. After the war, he studied at the university and became a

Doctor of Law A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for ''Legum Doctor'', with the double “L” in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law ...

. In 1924, he married Raymonde Heudebert, a painter. In 1927, he bought the Victorine Studios in Nice and he became a film producer and a journalist for

Paris-soir ''Paris-soir'' () was a French newspaper founded in 1923 and published until 1944 when it was banned for having been a collaborationist newspaper during the war. Publication history The first issue of ''Paris-soir'' came out on 4 October 1923 ...

. He also continued to fly in the interwar period. In spring 1934, together with his friend André Malraux , he embarked on a much publicized and dangerous expedition to find the lost capital of the

Queen of Sheba The Queen of Sheba, also known as Bilqis in Arabic and as Makeda in Geʽez, is a figure first mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. In the original story, she brings a caravan of valuable gifts for Solomon, the fourth King of Israel and Judah. This a ...

, flying several weeks over the deserts in Saudi Arabia and Yemen, who were at war with each other.
In November 1936, he was the co-pilot of Jim Mollison in his last major record attempt to fly non-stop from Croydon to Cape Town, South Africa. The attempt ended with a forced landing some 160 km short of Cape Town. At the beginning of the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

, he went to Spain with his friend André Malraux to help to organize the small Spanish Republican Air Force.

World War II

In September 1939, after the outbreak of World War II, he joined the French Airforce again. On 13 May 1940, he helped, at the head of his patrol, to shoot down a

Henschel Hs 126 The Henschel Hs 126 was a twin-seat parasol wing reconnaissance and observation aircraft designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Henschel. The Hs 126 that was derived from the Henschel Hs 122. The pilot was seated in a pro ...

and on 16 May 1940, he shot down a

Heinkel He 111 The Heinkel He 111 is a German airliner and medium bomber designed by Siegfried and Walter Günter at Heinkel Flugzeugwerke in 1934. Through development, it was described as a wolf in sheep's clothing. Due to restrictions placed on Germany a ...

. He has two officially approved victories and he was one of only three pilots from the First World War, who added victories in 39–40 to their record from the previous war. The others were Lionel de Marmier and

Marcel Haegelen Colonel Marcel Émile Haegelen

who obtained, respectively, three and one aerial combat victories in 1940. After the French defeat in June, he was demobilized on 16 August 1940. He joined the Resistance Movement

Libération-sud ''Libération-sud'' ( French for "Liberation-South") was a resistance group active between 1940-1944 and created in the Free Zone of France during the Second World War in order to fight against the Nazi occupation through coordinated sabotage a ...

led by Emmanuel d'Astier de La Vigerie and was taken prisoner in December 1940. Released on 7 January 1941, he managed to cross into Morocco. From there, he reached

Martinique Martinique ( ; or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It was previously known as Iguanacaera which translates to iguana island in Carib language, Kariʼn ...

, from where he managed, by deceiving the surveillance of the Vichy navy, to reach New York. On 1 March 1941, he joined the Free French Air Force (FAFL) in London. He led them into combat in the Middle East, where he was appointed Chief of staff and then Commander of the French air force in the Middle East. In 1941, he created the Lorraine and Alsace groups and participated with them in the Campaigns of Libya and Cyrenaica. Designated to take command of the French air forces then in Great Britain in 1943, he took part in numerous missions over Germany and the occupied countries. He was appointed head of the Atlantic Air Forces in November 1944 and promoted to Air brigadier general in December of the same year. He was demobilized on 1 August 1946, after being appointed Air division general.

Political career

After the War, he entered politics and became a

Minister of State Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior minister ...

in the Joseph Laniel government (1954),

Minister of Public works This list indicates government departments in various countries dedicated to public works or infrastructure. See also * Public works * Ministry or Board of Public Works, the imperial Chinese ministry overseeing public projects from the Tang ...

in the second Edgar Faure government (1955–56),

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

in the Maurice Bourgès-Maunoury government (1957) and finally Minister for the Sahara in the Pierre Pflimlin government (1958). He was also French representative in the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...

. Archives Assemblee Nationale
/ref> He died from heart failure in Paris on 9 May 1963 and he was buried in the Cimetière du Château in his native Nice.

Producer

* 1936 : ''The Brighton Twins'' (''Les Jumeaux de Brighton'') directed by

Claude Heymann Claude Heymann (13 November 1907 – 13 April 1994) was a French screenwriter and film director.Frey p.78 Selected filmography * ''American Love (film), American Love'' (1931) * ''Idylle au Caire'' (1933) * ''Disk 413'' (1936) * ''The Brighto ...

* 1937 : '' Southern Mail'' (''Courrier sud'') by Pierre Billon * 1937 : '' Bizarre, Bizarre'' (''Drôle de drame'') by

Marcel Carné Marcel Albert Carné (; 18 August 1906 – 31 October 1996) was a French film director. A key figure in the poetic realism movement, Carné's best known films include ''Port of Shadows'' (1938), ''Le Jour Se Lève'' (1939), ''Les Visiteurs du Soi ...

* 1938 : '' Mollenard'' by

Robert Siodmak Robert Siodmak (; 8 August 1900 – 10 March 1973) was a German Jewish film director. His career spanned some 40 years, working extensively in the United States and France, as well as in his native country. Though he worked in many genres, he was ...

* 1945 : '' Espoir: Sierra de Teruel'' by

References

* *

External links

*
Édouard Corniglion-Molinier, un paladin au xxe siècle by Maurice Ligot (2019)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Corniglion-Molinier, Edouard 1898 births 1963 deaths People from Nice Politicians from Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Rally of the French People politicians National Centre of Social Republicans politicians Union for the New Republic politicians Ministers of justice of France Ministers of transport of France Ministers of tourism of France French senators of the Fourth Republic Senators of Seine (department) Deputies of the 2nd National Assembly of the French Fourth Republic Deputies of the 3rd National Assembly of the French Fourth Republic Deputies of the 2nd National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic French aviators French Resistance members French people of the Algerian War Companions of the Liberation French World War II flying aces French Air Force generals French film producers