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Renato Petit de Ory, better known by his French name, René Petit (8 October 1899 – 14 October 1989), was a
Franco Franco may refer to: Name * Franco (name) * Francisco Franco (1892–1975), Spanish general and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975 * Franco Luambo (1938–1989), Congolese musician, the "Grand Maître" * Franco of Cologne (mid to late 13th cent ...
-Spanish engineer, known for being a
footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...
in his youth. He was one of the most popular players in Spanish football in the 1910s, 1920s, and 1930s, playing for
Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...
and
Real Unión Real Unión Club, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Irun, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country, in the province of Gipuzkoa, near the border with France. Founded on 15 May 1915 it currently plays in Primera División RF ...
, and becoming a member of the France national team. He represented France at the
1920 Summer Olympics The 1920 Summer Olympics (; ; ), officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad (; ; ) and commonly known as Antwerp 1920 (; Dutch language, Dutch and German language, German: ''Antwerpen 1920''), were an international multi-sport event held i ...
in Belgium. The figure of René Petit has a double ambivalence. On the one hand, there is his dual nationality, French and Spanish, and his status as a Basque-French. On the other hand, there is his double vocation: the first, as a brilliant footballer, and the second, as a clever civil engineer, who built Bilbao's Arenal Bridge and the
Yesa Reservoir The Yesa Reservoir is located in the Pyrenees, and is formed with the damming of the Aragon River, in the Navarre town of Yesa (Spain), although the largest area of the reservoir is located in the province of Zaragoza, extending from east to west ...
.


Early life

René Petit was born in
Dax The DAX (''Deutscher Aktienindex'' (German stock index); ) is a stock market index consisting of the 40 major German blue chip companies trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. It is a total return index. Prices are taken from the Xetra t ...
, France, by pure chance, since his pregnant mother, a Spaniard born in Madrid, had traveled to that town just for treatments at its thermal waters; she was in a spa taking
hot spring A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a Spring (hydrology), spring produced by the emergence of Geothermal activity, geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow ...
s when the waters broke. His father was a French engineer who was a high official of the Company of Railways in Northern Spain, holding the post of head of traffic. Petit lived a good part of his life on the border between Spain and France, more specifically in the Basque Country, hence his status as a Basque-French, growing up between the towns of
Irun Irun (, ) is a town of the Bidasoaldea region in the province of Gipuzkoa in the Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. History It lies on the foundations of the ancient Oiasso, cited as a Roman- Vasconic town. During the Spanish Civil War, ...
and
Hondarribia Hondarribia (; ; ) is a Spanish town situated on the west shore of the Bidasoa river's estuary, in Gipuzkoa, in the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Autonomous Community. The border town is situated on a little promontory facing Hend ...
, with the former town being the terminus of the Spanish rail network in which his father was stationed. Despite being raised in the Basque Country, Petit had a thorough education of the French type. When he turned 12, his entire family moved to live in Madrid, where his father's company had its headquarters. There he attended high school at the prestigious ''Colegio de Nuestra Señora del Pilar''.


Football career


Madrid FC

Petit began practicing football at the ''Colegio del Pilar'', one of the city's football cradles, where he stood out as a
centre-forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than Midfielder, midfielders and Defender (association football), d ...
. From there he joined Madrid FC's youth teams in 1914 together with his brother
Juan ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of '' John''. The name is of Hebrew origin and has the meaning "God has been gracious." It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking countries around the world and in the Philip ...
. The Petits had their names Castilianized and were known in Spain as Juan and Renato. The Petit brothers made themselves noticed during the 1914–15 season, and despite René's early age, he also earned himself a spot on the first team, making his debut for Madrid alongside Juan in a Central Regional Championship match against Sociedad Gimnástica on 15 November 1914, scoring his side's only goal in a 1–3 loss, and in doing so at the age of 15 years and 37 days, Petit became the youngest-ever scorer in the history of Real Madrid. In the very next match on 29 November, the Petits scored all three in Madrid's 3–2 victory over
Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...
, two from René and one from Juan. The play that the Petits offered Real Madrid allowed the Whites to take a huge leap in quality, and as a result, Real Madrid was once again fighting for all the titles in play. Petit quickly became one of the club's benchmarks and stars at the time. He soon evolved from his position of forward to midfielder, which he no longer gave up until the end of his career. It was from the midfield that he contributed extraordinarily to the success of Real Madrid, which was proclaimed Champion of the Central Regional in 1916 and Champion of Spain in 1917. He played for Real Madrid from 1914 to 1917, alongside Santiago Bernabéu, who was the center forward. On 7 March 1916, Petit played in his first
El Clásico El Clásico (in Spanish, also in lowercase letters; ) or El Clàssic (in Catalan, ), both meaning "The Classic", is the name given to any football match between rival clubs Barcelona and Real Madrid. Originally referring to competitions he ...
, a friendly that ended in a goalless draw, and in doing so at the age of 16 years and 149 days, he became the youngest player to do so, breaking the previous record set by Barcelona's Alfonso Albéniz in 1902 (16 years and 242 days). Just a few weeks later, Petit made his debut in the
Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...
, becoming one of the youngest players in the competition's history and then playing in the El Classico semifinals that saw Madrid FC defeat
FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...
after four thrilling matches in which his brother Juan scored one goal. He then started in the
final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...
against
Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club (; ), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao (), or simply Athletic, is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Southern Basque Country, Basque Country, Spain. They are known ...
on 7 May 1916, becoming, at the age of 16 years and 209 days, one of the youngest players to do so; Madrid lost 4–0. Petit also helped Madrid reach the final in the following year in
1917 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 9 – WWI – Battle of Rafa: The last substantial Ottoman Army garrison on the Sinai Peninsula is captured by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force's ...
, this time winning the title by beating Arenas de Getxo after the 17-year-old Petit produced a very memorable moment: When all seemed lost, an individual piece of brilliance from Petit, dribbling past all who came in front of him, allowed Madrid to equalize in the 75th minute, thus forcing
extra-time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...
in which Ricardo Álvarez scored the winner. By scoring in the final on 15 May, he became, at the age of 17 years, 7 months and 7 days, in one of the youngest players to do so, and since this was believed to have been his first goal in the Copa del Rey (he had already scored against
Sevilla Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Seville ...
in the quarterfinals two months earlier), later reports wrongly credited this age when making the list for the youngest scorers in Madrid's history, which puts him in fourth, only behind Raúl, Alberto Rivera, and Antolín Ortega. Shortly before the 1917 final, his older brother was drafted into the French army, while René stayed in Madrid due to still being a minor of 17; his brother was severely injured and seriously wounded in World War I, which forced him to put an end to his playing career prematurely. In total, Petit scored 14 goals in 29 games for Madrid in the Copa del Rey, plus winning one domestic cup title and two regional championships.


Real Unión

Despite having just won the Copa del Rey with Madrid, his Basque inclinations motivated Petit to leave the club as he preferred to continue playing football for the team of his hometown, the
Real Unión Real Unión Club, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Irun, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country, in the province of Gipuzkoa, near the border with France. Founded on 15 May 1915 it currently plays in Primera División RF ...
de Irún, which had just been founded. As he was studying engineering in the capital, Petit would travel to his hometown by
motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike; uni (if one-wheeled); trike (if three-wheeled); quad (if four-wheeled)) is a lightweight private 1-to-2 passenger personal motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar from a saddle-style ...
on the
weekend The weekdays and weekend are the complementary parts of the week, devoted to labour and rest, respectively. The legal weekdays (British English), or workweek (American English), is the part of the seven-day week devoted to working. In most o ...
s to wear the colors (also white) of the Real Unión. Together with Ramón Eguiazábal,
Patricio Arabolaza Patricio Arabolaza Aranburu (17 March 1893 – 10 March 1935) was a Spanish football player who competed in the 1920 Summer Olympics. He is best known for scoring the first goal in the history of the Spain national team. Club career Born in Ir ...
, and
Juan Legarreta Juan Legarreta Ugarte (1897 in Irún, Spain - 22 November 1978 in Santiago, Chile) was a former Spanish-Chilean footballer who played for Unión Española as a central defender. Club career He began his senior career at the age of 16 playing for ...
, Petit played a vital role in Unión's golden era, which won three Copa del Rey titles, including two victories against his former team Real Madrid in the final, the first of which came in his debut season with Unión, Petit helped his new side reach the 1918 Copa del Rey final, where he contributed to the defeat of his former team, Madrid, thus winning back-to-back cup titles with two different teams. Having been born in France to a French father, the Petit brothers had to fulfill their mandatory military service there, and indeed, between 1918 and 1920, the teenage Petit had to stay in France to serve the two years of his military service. During this time, Petit enlisted in the ranks of
Stade Bordelais Stade Bordelais are a French rugby union club, based in Bordeaux. The club was established in 1889. Bordelais were a major force in the French championship during the 1900s. Until 2005–06, the senior team competed in the second level of dom ...
, in
Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...
, coinciding with the beginning of the best years of the club. In 1920, Petit played a vital role in helping the club becoming champions of the first edition of the ''Division d'Honneur'' of Aquitaine. In 1922, Petit helped Unión reach another cup final, which his side lost 1–5 to FC Barcelona. Two years later, in 1924, he won another Copa del Rey after defeating Real Madrid in the
final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...
again. Petit played his fifth and last final in 1927, where he failed to convert a
penalty Penalty, The Penalty, Penalization, Penalisation, Penalize or Penalise may refer to: Sports * Foul (sports) ** Penalty (golf) ** Penalty (gridiron football) ** Penalty (ice hockey) ** Penalty (rugby) ** Penalty (rugby union) ** Penalty kick (assoc ...
against Arenas de Getxo as the 90 minutes ended in a 0–0, but a lonely goal in extra-time from José Echeveste, who had also scored the only goal of the 1924 final, meant that Petit would be winning his fourth and last cup title. In addition to these three cup titles, Petit also helped the club win eight
Gipuzkoa Gipuzkoa ( , ; ; ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French department of Pyrénées-Atlantiqu ...
championships. Petit played in the inaugural Spanish national league in 1929. In total, he played 48 games in the first division and scored 10 goals. Furthermore, after Real Unión's relegation in 1932, he played one more season in the second division. He retired from the sport with four Copa del Rey titles and without ever earning a penny from football.


International career


Madrid

Being an Madrid FC player, he was eligible to play for the Madrid national team, being in the line-up of the team's first-ever international match on 10 May 1915 against
Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...
, which was held at the
Campo de O'Donnell Campo de O'Donnell was a multi-use stadium in Madrid, Spain. The stadium should not be confused with Campo de O'Donnell (Atlético Madrid), which shared the same name and was situated away on the same boulevard. It was initially a field (campo) ...
for the 1915 Prince of Asturias Cup, the first edition of the
Prince of Asturias Cup The Prince of Asturias Cup (, ) was an inter-regional football competition contested by the regional selections of Spain – selections of players from clubs from the region in question, meaning that players did not need to be native to the regio ...
, and although they lost 1–2, Petit scored the consolation goal, thus being the author of the first goal in the history of the team. In the decisive game, Petit, who always felt Basque, played against Basque Country, missing a penalty in an eventual 1–1 draw that was enough for the Basques to win the cup. The harshness with which the Prince of Asturias Cup was played in 1915 was not an obstacle for Petit, who had not yet turned 16, and by scoring a goal on 10 May 1915, at the age of 15 years and 212 days, he became the youngest goalscorer in the history of the competition as well as one of the youngest to ever score for a national team of any kind.


Unofficial matches with France and Spain

In the summer of 1919, Petit, who was in France performing his mandatory military service, decided to play for the French team in the
Inter-Allied Games The Inter-Allied Games was a one-off multi-sport event held from 22 June to 6 July 1919 at the newly constructed Pershing Stadium just outside Paris, France following the end of World War I. The host stadium had been built near the Bois de Vi ...
in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
, a large sports competition organized in celebration of the Allied victory in World War I, as a way of honoring his brother, who fought in the war. However, the matches of this tournament are not considered official by
FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...
. In the summer of 1920, when he returned to Irún to rejoin his beloved Real Unión, Petit was among the 25 players who were called in the first-ever call-up in the history of the Spanish national team, to play a series of friendlies (the so-called Possibles vs Probables) in the warm-up for the upcoming
1920 Summer Olympics The 1920 Summer Olympics (; ; ), officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad (; ; ) and commonly known as Antwerp 1920 (; Dutch language, Dutch and German language, German: ''Antwerpen 1920''), were an international multi-sport event held i ...
. Despite his French links, Petit was incorporated to these preparatory matches, and he even played in one of them on 20 July, in San Mamés, helping the Probables to a 2–0 win.


1920 Olympics

In order to field Petit, Spain then sought authorization from the IOC, claiming that he had played his entire life, since he was fourteen years old, in the Spanish Championships, having held the title of Champion twice. The French, on the other hand, claimed him for themselves, stating that he has been a member of the Stade Bordelais, and warning Spain that "there is a border in the
Pyrenees The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...
". France's claims were not valid since Petit's license with Stade Bordelais ended on 12 July 1920, but the French selection committee had decided to have him for their team, and thus, in August, "Petit was requested by the French Ministry of War to join the football team that will defend the French colors in Antwerp". After almost a month of dispute in the offices of the respective Federations, the Olympic Committee, and in the sports press of both countries, René Petit had to join the ranks of the French team, and thus representing them at the Summer Olympics, under coach
Fred Pentland Frederick Beaconsfield Pentland (29 July 1883 – 16 March 1962) was an English football player and coach. Pentland played club football in the Football League for Blackpool, Blackburn Rovers and Middlesbrough, in the Southern Football League f ...
. Petit played two games and scoring none as they were eliminated in the semifinals. This prevented him from later being international with the Spanish national team, who in that tournament, oddly enough, won the silver medal. Petit, who always felt Spanish, ended up playing in the Antwerp Olympic Games with France, thus repeating the same scenario of 1915 when Petit, who felt Basque, aligned himself with the Centro Team. During his stay in Antwerp, Petit, who spent a lot of time in the company of his Spanish teammates, was part of a negotiation between him, Pagaza, and Pentland, which convinced the latter to start coaching in Spain; this intermediation would greatly influence the future of Spanish football since Pentland went on to become the greatest coaches in Spain during his time.


Gipuzkoa and retirement

When he joined
Real Unión Real Unión Club, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Irun, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country, in the province of Gipuzkoa, near the border with France. Founded on 15 May 1915 it currently plays in Primera División RF ...
, Petit became eligible to play for the Gipuzkoa national team, and he was part of the squad that participated in two editions of the
Prince of Asturias Cup The Prince of Asturias Cup (, ) was an inter-regional football competition contested by the regional selections of Spain – selections of players from clubs from the region in question, meaning that players did not need to be native to the regio ...
, in 1922–23 and 1923–24, with both campaigns finishing in a quarter-final exit at the hands of Catalonia, losing 0–3 and 1–2 respectively, with the author of their only goal in the competition being René Petit. In 1924, Petit was forced to choose between representing France at the
1924 Summer Olympics The 1924 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the VIII Olympiad () and officially branded as Paris 1924, were an international multi-sport event held in Paris, France. The opening ceremony was held on 5 July, but some competitions had al ...
and Real Unión and he chose his hometown team. His fame beyond Spanish borders had given rise to the desire of the
French Football Federation The French Football Federation ( FFF and 3F; or Triple F; , ) is the governing body of football in France. It was formed in 1919 and is based in the capital, Paris. The FFF is a founding member of FIFA and is responsible for overseeing all aspec ...
to field him on their team, so they spoke to him about playing in a friendly match against
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
on 22 March 1925, but the Spanish Federation declared that although it was willing to give him the necessary authorization, Petit would be disqualified from playing in Spain for two years if he played for France, and of course that he did not agree to such a harsh sanction in order to continue playing for Real Unión.


Playing style

Despite his high-scoring performance throughout his career, Petit never considered himself a striker, but a player who provided passing and support. He could play center forward, but most of his career he played as a
midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...
. Petit is considered one of the most complete players in the history of Spanish football, because, due to his physical power, he could play forward, midfielder or defender; although he always preferred to play in the midfield. Real Madrid's website describes him as "the total footballer. Physically outstanding, he was, more importantly, endowed with exquisite skills. His elegance and vision of play made him an idol to Madrid's fans". Spanish footballer, coach, and journalist Pedro Escartín even compared him with Di Stéfano, and indeed, those who were lucky enough to see him play say that he was the Di Stéfano of the 1920s. Many consider that Petit modernized Spanish football by establishing passing and team play against the previously existing anarchy; he is thus considered the first player of the modern era because of his ability to interpret the game. Petit was one of the players who contributed the most to developing football fans in Spain, due to his beautiful short and mathematical passing style.


Engineering career

Upon his retirement from football, Petit fully dedicated himself to his professional career as a civil engineer. He had actually already been combining this with his football activity since he was never a professional player. In fact, after completing his studies at the and finishing his degree in 1925, Petit carried out several small public works and professional jobs in
Gipuzkoa Gipuzkoa ( , ; ; ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French department of Pyrénées-Atlantiqu ...
and
Navarra Navarre ( ; ; ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and New Aquitaine in France. ...
. In 1926 he joined the Ebro Hydrographic Confederation, in which Manuel Lorenzo Pardo assigned him to the project and construction of the Yesa dam, a gravity structure, seventy-six meters high, intended to dam the
Aragón River Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces of Spain, ...
, in Navarre. He was also in charge of the works on the
Bardenas Canal The Bardenas Canal is an aqueduct that carries water from the Navarre town of Yesa, in northern Spain, to the southern part of Navarre and Province of Zaragoza, Zaragoza. It originates at the dam of the Yesa Reservoir, Yesa reservoir, where the P ...
and the irrigation of this area would be his greatest personal satisfaction, as he later declared that "The best payment I have ever had is seeing how authentic deserts have become green, beautiful and profitable". In 1929 he was incorporated, by Royal Decree, into the Corps of Civil Engineers. In 1933 he was entrusted, together with
Ramón Iribarren Ramón Iribarren Cavanilles Doctor of Engineering, Ing.D (15 April 1900 – 21 February 1967) was a Spanish civil engineer and professor of ports at the School of Civil Engineering (, ''ETSICCP'') in Madrid. He was chairman of the Spanish dele ...
, with the study of a project to prevent flooding of the Bidasoa River as it passes through Irún and Fuenterrabía. The project was postponed until 1938, when the Irún City Council greenlighted the project as part of the new layout of the city, which had been devastated by a fire during 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 collaborated with José and Ramón Iribarren in the "Plan for expansion and internal reform of the city", being in charge of establishing the
sanitation Sanitation refers to public health conditions related to clean drinking water and treatment and disposal of human excreta and sewage. Preventing human contact with feces is part of sanitation, as is hand washing with soap. Sanitation systems ...
network and channeling the Bidasoa. At the beginning of the Civil War, he had to briefly go into exile in France because he had shown sympathy for the uprising in Irún, which was in a republican zone. He and his brother Juan were among the many Frenchmen involved in the Spanish Civil War, with Petit volunteering and being appointed responsible for the reconstruction of bridges and the city of Irun, while Juan was a
Falangist Falangism () was the political ideology of three political parties in Spain that were known as the Falange, namely first the Falange Española, the Falange Española de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista (FE de las JONS), and afterwa ...
of the Sagardía Column. In 1937,
Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (born Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general and dictator who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces i ...
ordered the reconstruction of Bilbao's Arenal Bridge, which had been destroyed during the war, and Petit was the chosen engineer to oversee its construction, which ended in June 1938, when a new
reinforced concrete Reinforced concrete, also called ferroconcrete or ferro-concrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having higher tensile strength or ...
bridge was opened. After the war, he was in charge of the Ebro reservoir works, until he returned to Yesa. In 1945, under the direction of René Petit, two renovations of the ''Yesa Reservoir project'' were carried out, the first one was approved by Ministerial Order on 6 February, and the second and definitive one on 15 September. At the end of these works, in 1959, he moved, as second chief, to the head of Public Works of Gipuzkoa, but following the inauguration of the
Yesa Reservoir The Yesa Reservoir is located in the Pyrenees, and is formed with the damming of the Aragon River, in the Navarre town of Yesa (Spain), although the largest area of the reservoir is located in the province of Zaragoza, extending from east to west ...
by Francisco Franco in late 1959, Petit decided to settle down to spend more time with his family, thus accepting a position at the
San Sebastián San Sebastián, officially known by the bilingual name Donostia / San Sebastián (, ), is a city and municipality located in the Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. It lies on the coast of the Bay of Biscay, from the France–Spain border ...
Highway Headquarters, where he remains until his retirement in 1969, always maintaining his domicile in Fuenterrabía.


Later life and death

Petit shied away from popularity and refused interviews, which is why he was forgotten by the football media. In any case, he accumulated a large number of recognitions, such as the Royal Order of Sports Merit. On the occasion of the Golden Jubilee (1952), Petit received the club's Gold and Diamond Insignia from Santiago Bernabéu. It was a way of honoring who many consider Real Madrid's first great star. Among the rewards for his professional work, Petit received a Commendation of the Order of Civil Merit, and the Medal of Honor awarded by the College of Civil Engineers, Canals and Ports in 1986. Petit died in Hondarribia on 14 October 1989, at the age of 90.


Honours


Club

Madrid FC *
Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...
: **Winners (1):
1917 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 9 – WWI – Battle of Rafa: The last substantial Ottoman Army garrison on the Sinai Peninsula is captured by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force's ...
;
Real Unión Real Unión Club, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Irun, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country, in the province of Gipuzkoa, near the border with France. Founded on 15 May 1915 it currently plays in Primera División RF ...
*
Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...
: **Winners (1):
1918 The ceasefire that effectively ended the World War I, First World War took place on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of this year. Also in this year, the Spanish flu pandemic killed 50–100 million people wor ...
,
1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20–January 30, 30 – Kuomintang in Ch ...
, and
1927 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the BBC, British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith, 1st Baron Reith, John Reith becomes the first ...


International

;
Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
*
Prince of Asturias Cup The Prince of Asturias Cup (, ) was an inter-regional football competition contested by the regional selections of Spain – selections of players from clubs from the region in question, meaning that players did not need to be native to the regio ...
: **Runner-up (1):
1916 Events Below, the events of the First World War have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 1 – The British Empire, British Royal Army Medical Corps carries out the first successful blood transfusion, using blood that has been stored ...


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Petit, Rene 1899 births 1989 deaths Footballers from Landes (department) Footballers from Hondarribia French men's footballers France men's international footballers Olympic footballers for France Footballers at the 1920 Summer Olympics French people of Spanish descent Sportspeople of Spanish descent Men's association football midfielders Real Madrid CF players Real Unión footballers Stade Bordelais (football) players La Liga players French expatriate sportspeople in Spain French expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain 20th-century French sportsmen