Louis Armand | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Louis François Armand (1905-01-17)17 January 1905 Cruseilles, France |
| Died | 30 August 1971(1971-08-30) (aged 66) Villers-sur-Mer, France |
| Education | Lycée du Parc |
| Alma mater | École Polytechnique École Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Paris |
| Occupation | Engineer |
| Known for | Inventor, administrator, Resistance fighter |
| Spouse | Geneviève Gazel (m. 1928–1971) |
| Relatives | Antoine Armand (great-grandson) |
Louis François Armand (French:[lwiaʁmɑ̃]; 17 January 1905 – 30 August 1971) was a Frenchengineer and seniorcivil servant who managed several public companies, as well as had a significant role in World War II as an officer in theResistance. He became the first president of theEuropean Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) as chair of theArmand Commission from 1958 to 1959 before he was elected to theAcadémie Française in 1963.
A station onMarseille Metro Line 1 opened in 2010 under Boulevard Louis-Armand bears his name.
Louis Armand was born inCruseilles, Haute-Savoie, and studied inAnnecy and inLyon at theLycée du Parc. He graduated second in his class from theÉcole Polytechnique (class of 1924), then joined theCorps des Mines and was major fromÉcole des Mines.[1] He married his wife, Genevieve Gazel, in 1928.
He joined theCompagnie du chemin de fer Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée (PLM) in 1934, transferring to theSociété Nationale des Chemins de fer Français (SNCF) when the PLM was nationalised in 1938. In 1940–1941 he invented a method for preventing the calcification, furring up, of engine boilers called theTraitement Integral Armand (TIA) water treatment process forsteam locomotives.[2]
During theSecond World War he organized and led theResistance group namedRésistance-Fer, from February 1943 onwards. He was arrested by theGestapo on 25 June 1944. He was liberated from jail during the liberation of Paris, and was decorated with the Croix de la Liberation.
In 1949, Armand was named the general manager of theSNCF and created the Société du tunnel sous la Manche in 1957. During this time, he pushed for the electrification of the rail system using AC voltage.
From 1958 to 1959, he managed the European atomic energy commission (Euratom), having inspired its creation.[1]
In the late 1960s, afterMay 1968 in Paris, Louis Armand was instrumental in helping Christian LeClercq and theJunior Chamber of Commerce of Brussels to start a new European thinktank and membership organization: "L'Entreprise de Demain - Forum for Tomorrow".
This non-profit and non-political organization was soon going to leave the Junior Chamber of Commerce to become independent. To help that organization, Louis Armand, as a visionary global thinker, provided access to some of the best "global leaders" in international business, world politics, academia and scientific research who addressed the Forum, under the royal guidance ofBaudouin I of Belgium.
"L'Entreprise de Demain - Forum for Tomorrow" soon developed chapters inDenmark,France,Switzerland and theUnited States, allowing some of the most brilliant minds of the time to address corporate executives and share their views about the future of the world.
Louis Armand wrote a book on "l'Entreprise de Demain" in 1970, and the history of the organization was also published in the "Que Sais-Je?" collection.
In 1971, Louis Armand successfully pushed to have the word "creativity" included in the French dictionary.[1]
Armand died inVillers-sur-Mer, at 66.
Without the visionary inspiration and guidance of Louis Armand, "L'Entreprise de Demain - Forum for Tomorrow" could never have been formed. The worldwide organization lasted for well over 20 years. Its founder and international president, Christian LeClercq, died in July 2011.
