French Celebrities Bio | Charles de Gaulle

If you go to Lille, you can enter the childhood world of France’s most iconic leaders.

Away from the historic city centre in a comfortable suburb you can sit in the family conservatory and imagine the ordinary home life of boy, intelligent and ambitious, who would later become the “Leader of the Free French” during World War Two. Although he would later be educated in Paris, Lille is rightfully proud of its most famous son.


Born on November 22nd 1890, de Gaulle was one of five children, the second child of Henri de Gaulle, a professor of philosophy and literature of aristocratic lineage, and Jeanne, herself descended from wealthy entrepreneurs. Keen on studying history from an early age, Charles decided upon a military career and enrolled at the Saint Cyr military academy, from where he graduated in 1912.

He served with distinction in the Great War but was a prisoner in Germany after being captured at Verdun. He made five unsuccessful escape attempts but went on to reach the rank of captain. It was for his patriotic fervour that he stood out as a potential leader.

During the inter-war years he wrote books and articles on military subjects and strategies, some of which were seen as radical and antagonised his superiors. He became a Commandant serving in Syria, which was then a French colony, before returning to France as a serving offer, becoming a Lieutenant-Colonel and then Under-Secretary of National Defence and War by the time World War Two broke out.

The strategies that he had proposed were ignored and the Germans overran France easily so de Gaulle promptly escaped to England, where he announced the creation of a government in Exile and became the leader of the Free French.

A hero’s reception greeted him upon returning to Paris after liberation in 1944 and he set about creating the constitution for the new Fourth Republic. However, when his desire for a strong presidency was ignored, he resigned. An attempt to transform the political scene with a new party failed, and in 1953 he withdrew from public life.

Amid political instability in France and a revolt in the Algerian colony, he returned to lead the Fifth Republic, its constitution approved by referendum, in 1958. This period of power was marked by fiercely pro-French policies including the development of nuclear weapons, withdrawal of France from NATO and a veto of the entry of Britain into the Common Market. But there was uproar among the French and French Algerians and country became independent in 1962, along with 12 other French colonies.

During his latter years there was much strife to contend with: the May 1968 student demos led to a paralysing strike and a year later, after negative results in a referendum, de Gaulle resigned from office. In retirement he completed his memoirs and died suddenly two days before his 80th birthday in Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises on 9th November, 1970.

Tuesday, November, 2nd at 13.30 by Katharine Barrau