Francis-Louis Closon | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1910-06-18)18 June 1910 Marseille, France |
| Died | 12 December 1998(1998-12-12) (aged 88) Paris 8th, France |
| Occupation | Director ofinsee |
| Known for | French Resistance member, high-ranking French official |
Francis-Louis Closon (also known by the aliasesVincent,Cou, Coulanges,[1] Derdon, Fouché, Paraffine; 18 June 1910 – 12 December 1998)[2] was aFrench Resistance member, aCompanion of the Liberation, and a senior French official.
A student at Lycée Thiers inMarseille (Saint-Charles annex),[3] and later a law graduate, Closon was involved in Christian-democratic movements during his youth. In 1938 he completed an internship in the United States, where he learned ofFrance's defeat in 1940. He joined theGaullists in London and became heavily involved in theFrench Resistance. He helped to bring together the internal and external resistance movements. In July 1944 he was appointedCommissaire de la République forNord andPas-de-Calais, whileRaymond Aubrac was assigned toMarseille.[4]
He was sent on a mission in early August with Charles Luizet, newly appointed Prefect of Police in Paris, and Lazare Rachline. They were to be dropped into a resistance area near Ambérieu, but the plane was unable to land, forcing them to land in Corsica.
On their third attempt, Luizet and Closon were dropped in a resistance area near Apt in the Vaucluse on 10 August. From there they traveled toAvignon,Lyon, and finally Paris on {17 August. By late August, Closon arrived inLille and held his post as regional Commissioner of the Republic until 1946.
Afterward, Closon became the director of theNational Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies, which replaced the National Statistics Service set up by the Vichy government. He served as director from 1946 to 1961.[5]
Source:[5]