Émile Dewoitine (26 September 1892 – 5 July 1979) was a French aviation industrialist.

Prewar industrial activities

Born in Crépy-en-Laonnais, Émile Dewoitine entered the aviation industry by working at Latécoère during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. In 1920, he founded his own company, but facing little success at home, went to Switzerland where his

Dewoitine D.27 The Dewoitine D.27 was a Parasol wing, parasol monoplane fighter aircraft designed by Émile Dewoitine in 1928. Design and development After the end of World War I, the slump in demand for aircraft forced Dewoitine to close his company and move ...

fighter was accepted for operational service. In 1931, Dewoitine went back to France and founded Société Aéronautique Française - Avions Dewoitine. During the 1930s, several noteworthy aircraft rolled out of the

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

-based Dewoitine factories including the Dewoitine D.500, the

French Air Force The French Air and Space Force (, , ) is the air force, air and space force of the French Armed Forces. Formed in 1909 as the ("Aeronautical Service"), a service arm of the French Army, it became an independent military branch in 1934 as the Fr ...

's first fully metallic, monoplane fighter, as well as the Dewoitine D.338 airliner. In 1936, part of the French aviation industry was nationalized and Dewoitine's factories were absorbed by the state-owned

SNCAM Société nationale des constructions aéronautiques du Midi (abbreviated SNCAM) was a state-owned French aircraft manufacturer. The company was formed following the resolution of the 1936 general strike of French heavy industry, when the govern ...

. During the

Battle of France The Battle of France (; 10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign (), the French Campaign (, ) and the Fall of France, during the Second World War was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembour ...

in 1940, the Dewoitine D.520 turned out to be France's best fighter aircraft.

World War II

After the successful invasion of France by Germany in 1940 culminated in an armistice with Germany and the creation of the Vichy government, Dewoitine briefly tried to start a business in the United States. This caused him to be tried for treason under the

Vichy government Vichy France (; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was a French rump state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II, established as a result of the French capitulation after the defeat against ...

. Dewoitine went back to work with

SIPA Sipa (literally, "kick") is the Philippines' Traditional games in the Philippines, traditional native sport which predates the Spanish rule. The game is related to Sepak Takraw. Similar games include Footbag net, Footvolley, Bossaball and Jia ...

which, after an agreement between the Vichy government and German authorities, was manufacturing trainer aircraft intended for the

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

, including a derivative of the Arado Ar 96, which would later be known as the SIPA S.10.

Postwar exile

Facing charges of

collaborationism Wartime collaboration is cooperation with the enemy against one's country of citizenship in wartime. As historian Gerhard Hirschfeld says, it "is as old as war and the occupation of foreign territory". The term ''collaborator'' dates to the 19th c ...

after the liberation of France, Dewoitine fled to Spain, where he developed a derivative of the D.520 with Hispano Aviación. He later went to Argentina, where he worked for the ''Industria Aeronáutica Militar'', developing the Pulqui I, the first South American jet plane, and Colibrí, a trainer aircraft. In France, Dewoitine was condemned ''in absentia'' to a 20-year forced labour term in 1948.'' American Jewish Year Book, 2006, p.26
available here
At the end of this career, he resided in Switzerland. Once his crimes were prescribed under the statute of limitations, he returned to France and finished his life in

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dewoitine 1892 births 1979 deaths People from Aisne French industrialists 20th-century French engineers French expatriates in Spain French expatriates in Argentina French expatriates in Switzerland French exiles People convicted of indignité nationale Nazis convicted in absentia Nazis who fled to Spain Nazis who fled to Argentina