François-Henry Laperrine
Born
Marie Joseph François Henry Laperrine d'Hautpoul

September 29, 1860 (1860-09-29)
Castelnaudary, France
DiedMarch 5, 1920 (1920-03-06) (aged 59)
Sahara, French Algeria
NationalityFrench

François-Henry Laperrine (born Marie Joseph François Henry Laperrine d'Hautpoul, September 29, 1860 – March 5, 1920) was a French general who served during World War I.

Biography

Laperrine entered the École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr in October 1878 and became a captain in the 2nd Dragoons in November 1891. Laperrine organized the Compagnie Méharistes Sahariennes in 1897.[1][2] He was a friend of Charles de Foucauld who was killed in 1916 in Tamanrasset.[3][4] The two were honored on a stamp of Algeria in 1950.

Laperrine died after a plane crash (a Breguet) in the Sahara in 1920. His companions, Lieutenant Bernard and mechanic Marcel Vasselin survived and recorded Laperrine's last words, "People think they know the desert...People think I know it. Nobody really knows it. I have crossed the Sahara ten times and I will stay here."[1] Bernard and Vasselin buried Laperrine near the plane, but when a rescue party arrived he was disinterred and buried in Tamanrasset next to Foucauld. The fort was named for Laperrine.


Honors

References

  1. 1 2 Fleming, Fergus (2004). The sword and the cross : two men and an empire of sand. New York: Grove Press. pp. 299. ISBN 978-0802141736.
  2. ↑ Blaudin de Thé; Jacques Soustelle (1955). Historique des compagnies méharistes: 1902-1952. Imprimerie officielle.
  3. ↑ de Foucauld, C.; Laperrine, M.J.F.H. (1954). Lettres inédites au général Laperrine: pacificateur du Sahara. La Colombe.
  4. ↑ Foucauld, Charles de, and Marie Joseph François Henri Laperrine. Lettres inédites au général Laperrine, pacificateur du Sahara. Paris: La Colombe, 1954.

Further reading


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