Édouard Le Jeune (; 20 February 1921 – 9 April 2017) was a French

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

veteran and politician. He was the mayor of

Dinéault Dinéault (; ) is a commune in the Finistère department and administrative region of Brittany in north-western France. Population In French the inhabitants of Dinéault are known as ''Dinéaultais''. Geography The Menez Hom, a mountain that ...

from 1953 to 1989, and a senator for

Finistère Finistère (, ; ) is a Departments of France, department of France in the extreme west of Brittany. Its prefecture is Quimper and its largest city is Brest, France, Brest. In 2019, it had a population of 915,090.Parc naturel régional d'Armorique The Parc naturel régional d'Armorique (; ), or Armorica Regional Natural Park, is a rural protected area located in Brittany. The park land reaches from the Atlantic Ocean to hilly inland countryside. There are sandy beaches, swamps, rock format ...

Early life

Édouard Le Jeune was born on 20 February 1921 in Berrien, France. In 1943, after the Germans had invaded France during

, he joined 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 ...

. After the war, he was awarded the

Resistance Medal The Resistance Medal (, ) was a decoration bestowed by the French Committee of National Liberation, based in the United Kingdom, during World War II. It was established by a decree of General Charles de Gaulle on 9 February 1943 "to recognize the ...

and the

Cross of the resistance volunteer combatant The Cross of the Resistance Volunteer Combatant () is a French decoration that recognizes, as its name implies, those who fought in one of the resistance groups, or who were deported or interned for acts of resistance, or who were killed or injur ...

Career

Le Jeune first joined the

Union of Democrats and Independents – UC Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Union ...

, and later the

Union for French Democracy The Union for French Democracy ( ; UDF) was a centre-right political party in France. The UDF was founded in 1978 as an electoral alliance to support President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing in order to counterbalance the Gaullist preponderance over ...

. He served as the mayor of

from 1953 to 1989. He dedicated a new townhall in 1979. He established the

Parc naturel régional d'Armorique The Parc naturel régional d'Armorique (; ), or Armorica Regional Natural Park, is a rural protected area located in Brittany. The park land reaches from the Atlantic Ocean to hilly inland countryside. There are sandy beaches, swamps, rock format ...

in 1969, and he served as its founding president. He served as a member of the

French Senate The Senate (, ) is the upper house of the French Parliament, with the lower house being the National Assembly (France), National Assembly, the two houses constituting the legislature of France. It is made up of 348 senators (''sénateurs'' and ...

, where he represented

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

in 1999.

Personal life and death

Le Jeune married a native of Dinéault, Marie-Thérèse, in 1951. He died on 9 April 2017 in

. His funeral was held at the Church in Dinéault on 13 April 2017.

References

1921 births 2017 deaths Recipients of the Resistance Medal Mayors of places in Brittany French senators of the Fifth Republic Union for French Democracy politicians Recipients of the Legion of Honour Senators of Finistère {{France-mayor-stub