Henri Rol-Tanguy

Henri Rol-Tanguy (1908–2002) was a French communist and leader in the French Resistance.

Biography

Henri Tanguy was born on June 12 1908 in Morlaix, Brittany to a family of a sailor. Aged 14, he moved to Paris to work as a foundryman. In 1925 he joined the Young Communists and ended up as a secretary. He did his military service in 1929 with the 8th "Régiment de Zouaves" in Oran, Algeria and on his return became an activist with the local metal workers union.

At the outbreak of Spanish Civil War in 1937, Tanguy joined the International Brigades to fight for Spanish Republic. He was political commissar of the André Marty Battalion and the XIV International Brigade. He was wounded in the Battle of the Ebro in 1938. After the war he returned to France.

At the outbreak of World War Two, Tanguy was conscripted into French Army. After the surrender, he went underground with his wife Cécile Le Bihan. He became one of the leaders of communist resistance in Paris and organized a group that became Francs-Tireurs et Partisans (FTP). Tanguy used a nom de guerre of "Colonel Rol", after a close friend who had died in Spain.

In June 1944 Tanguy took command of the group of French Forces of the Interior (FFI) in the Île-de-France. When Allied armies begun to approach Paris, they were part of the forces that begun the liberation of Paris. Rol-Tanguy's group put posters across Paris that urged people to join in general uprising against the German troops.

After five days of fighting, General Dietrich von Choltitz notified Colonel Rol that he was ready to negotiate. Alongside Free French general Philippe Leclerc de Hautecloque, Tanguy accepted and signed the act of surrender on August 25. Like many resistance members, Tanguy later added his wartime pseudonym to his official name and became "Rol-Tanguy".

Rol-Tanguy joined the French 1st Army of General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny and served during the battles in Germany. After the war he received Croix de Guerre, the Médaille de la Résistance and a title of Compagnon de la Libération. He remained in the French army with a permanent commission until 1962.

After his army career Rol-Tanguy joined the central committee of the French Communist Party until 1987. He lived in the department of Loir-et-Cher and wrote a number of books about the Resistance. On 1994 he received Grand Croix de la Légion d'honneur and in 1996 received an honorary citizenship of Spain for his part in the International Brigades.

Henri Rol-Tanguy died on September 8, 2002. [ [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2002/09/28/db2801.xml Obituary - "Daily Telegraph" (UK)] ]

ources, references, links

* fr icon Wikipedia: Henri Rol-Tanguy
* [http://www.ordredelaliberation.fr/fr_compagnon/947.html fr icon Order of the Liberation: citation and biography]