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38-490: (Redirected from Rochefoucauld ) La Rochefoucauld may refer to: People [ edit ] Alexandre, comte de La Rochefoucauld (1767–1841), married Adélaïde de Pyvart de Chastullé , a San Domingo heiress allied to the Beauharnais family . Mme de La Rochefoucauld became dame d'honneur to the empress Josephine , and their eldest daughter married Francesco Borghese [fr],

76-481: A limousine flying a swastika flag, its driver nearby and the keys in the ignition. He drove off in the car and then caught a train to Paris, hiding in one of its bathrooms. The Daily Telegraph quoted him as saying, "When we arrived in Paris, I felt drunk with freedom." The SOE later evacuated him to England. In May 1944, La Rochefoucauld parachuted back into France. Dressed as a workman, he smuggled explosives into

114-666: A French underground worker whose sister was a nun. He donned her habit and walked unobtrusively to the home of a more senior agent, who hid him. With D-Day imminent, La Rochefoucauld was not extracted back to London, choosing instead to stay in France to help the Resistance overthrow the Germans. He carried out dozens of sabotage and espionage missions throughout the Normandy campaign as the Allies pushed

152-510: A brother-in-law of Pauline Bonaparte , Princess Borghese. La Rochefoucauld became ambassador successively to Vienna (1805) and to The Hague (1808–1810), where he negotiated the union of the Kingdom of Holland with France. During the " Hundred Days " he was made a peer of France . He subsequently devoted himself to philanthropic work, and in 1822 became deputy to the Chamber of Deputies and sat with

190-574: A class visit to his Alpine retreat at Berchtesgaden . La Rochefoucauld was 16 and a follower of Charles de Gaulle when Nazi Germany invaded France . His father was taken prisoner and he was also reported to the Gestapo so, with the help of the French Resistance , he took a pseudonym and fled to Spain in 1942, hoping to go on to England and link up with de Gaulle's movement. He escaped with two downed British airmen, who were also being sheltered by

228-560: A commune in the Charente département in France See also [ edit ] Duc de La Rochefoucauld Établissement La Rochefoucauld , a school in Paris Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title La Rochefoucauld . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to

266-529: A huge German munitions plant in Saint-Médard-en-Jalles , near Bordeaux . Over the course of the four-day mission, La Rochefoucauld, code-named "Sun", smuggled 40 kilos of explosives, concealed in hollowed-out loaves of bread and specially designed shoes, into the factory. He set off the explosives on 20 May and, after scaling a wall, fled on a bicycle. After sending a message to London (the reply read simply: "Félicitations"), he enjoyed several bottles with

304-451: A man quickly using his hands. In June 1943 they parachuted him into France, where he destroyed an electric substation and blew up railroad tracks at Avallon , but was captured and condemned to death by the Nazis. While being taken for execution, he jumped from the back of his captors' truck, dodged bullets, then ran through nearby streets. He ended up outside a German headquarters, where he spotted

342-481: A night raid to knock out a casemate near Saint-Vivien-de-Médoc , on France's western coast at the mouth of the Gironde . Paddling up the river, he approached the casemate, killed a guard there, and blew it up, forcing the Germans to pull back to their final defensive position on the coast at Verdon . Shortly afterwards, his knee was injured in a mine explosion, forcing him to take a month's leave. After V-E Day , he made

380-641: A number of incidents described in La Rochefoucauld's autobiography conflict with other accounts and evidence. For example, although he said he sabotaged the explosives works at Saint-Médard-en-Jalles in May 1944, this target had already been successfully attacked by RAF Bomber Command three weeks earlier, on the night of 29/30 April. A report in The Times on 1 May described the raid's "unusually spectacular results" and how "colossal" explosions were heard half an hour after

418-444: The dame d'atours , Émilie de Beauharnais , and the dame du palais : Jeanne Charlotte du Lucay , Madame de Rémusat , Elisabeth Baude de Talhouët, Lauriston, d'Arberg, Marie Antoinette Duchâtel, Sophie de Segur, Séran, Colbert, Savary and Aglaé Louise Auguié Ney. As dame d'honneur it was her task to supervise the ladies-in-waiting, organize the household of the empress, decide about the visits, invitations and presentations. She

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456-673: The National Archives in Kew . However, SOE in France is a history of F Section of SOE, whereas La Rochefoucauld was aligned with R/F section. Also, as much as seven eighths of the SOE records were lost in a fire in 1946 and paring down of files at the National Archives. In addition, French Army records make clear that La Rochefoucauld was known to be a saboteur with foreign training, and cite his secret British handler, code-named "Henri". Further,

494-698: The Service historique de la défense archives at Vincennes raises a further question mark: in an application to the French Forces of the Interior for recognition of his resistance activity, he did not indicate in his account of his service that he travelled to Spain or England or joined SOE or any other secret service. Given de Gaulle's unfavourable opinion of the British in general and the SOE in particular, La Rochefoucauld may have been reluctant to reveal past association with

532-696: The Special Operations Executive (SOE) during World War II , and later served as the mayor of Ouzouer-sur-Trézée , a canal town in the Loire Valley , for thirty years. In honour of his work for France and as a secret agent for the British during the war, La Rochefoucauld was awarded the orders Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur , Croix de Guerre , Médaille de la Résistance and the British Distinguished Service Order and Distinguished Conduct Medal . Robert de La Rochefoucauld

570-765: The Suez Crisis , in which the French joined Britain and Israel against Egypt over control of the Suez Canal . La Rochefoucauld was the mayor of Ouzouer-sur-Trézée for 30 years, from 1966 to 1996. His memoir, La Liberté, C'est Mon Plaisir, 1940-1946 , was published in 2002. In 1997, La Rochefoucauld testified on behalf of Maurice Papon , who was being tried on charges of deporting 1600 French Jews to their deaths in Nazi concentration camps while an official with France's wartime collaborationist Vichy government . La Rochefoucald told

608-581: The constitutional royalists . He was again raised to the peerage in 1831. His descendants became Dukes of Estissac and Princes of La Rochefoucauld-Montbel . Ambroise-Polycarpe de La Rochefoucauld (1765–1841), soldier and minister of Charles X Antoine de La Rochefoucauld (before 1552 – after 1569), French knight Antoine de La Rochefoucauld (1862–1959) , 19th century Rosicrucian Dominique de La Rochefoucauld (1712–1800), French bishop and cardinal Dominique, Prince de La Rochefoucauld-Montbel (born 1950), diplomat, Grand Hospitalier of

646-570: The dames de palais , d'Arenberg, while the post of dame d'honneur of empress Marie Louise went to the Duchess of Montebello . Her descendants include the Dukes of Estissac and the Princes de La Rochefoucauld -Montbel (Dominique and his son Gabriel). Robert de La Rochefoucauld Comte Robert Jean Marie de La Rochefoucauld (16 September 1923 – 8 May 2012) was a member of the French Resistance and

684-584: The British or SOE Section F. Among other distinctions, La Rochefoucauld was made a Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur and awarded the Croix de Guerre , the Médaille de la Résistance , and the British Distinguished Conduct Medal and Distinguished Service Order . La Rochefoucauld belonged to one of the oldest families of the French nobility, whose members included François de La Rochefoucauld ,

722-478: The Catholic Church François de La Rochefoucauld (writer) (1613–1680), French author noted for his maxims and memoirs François de La Rochefoucauld, Marquis de Montandre (1672–1739) François Alexandre Frédéric, duc de La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt (1747–1827), social reformer François, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1765–1848) Frédéric Jérôme de La Rochefoucauld (1701–1757), French cardinal of

760-631: The Catholic Church, Archbishop of Bourges Frédéric Gaëtan, marquis de La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt (1779–1863), politician Jean-Baptiste Louis Frédéric de La Rochefoucauld de Roye (1707–1746), French naval commander Jean-Dominique de La Rochefoucauld (1931–2011), French screenwriter and television director Louis Alexandre de La Rochefoucauld d'Enville (1743–1792), French aristocrat and politician Robert de La Rochefoucauld (1923–2012), French count and special operations executive Places [ edit ] La Rochefoucauld, Charente ,

798-502: The Germans back to Berlin . During one mission, he was captured by the Schutzstaffel and brought out to a field to be executed by firing squad , but before the Nazis could complete the execution, La Rochefoucauld's fellows in the Resistance took care of the Nazis' machine guns, buying La Rochefoucauld time to leave safely. His final behind-the-lines assault came in April 1945, when he led

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836-534: The Imperial palace. When Josephine was divorced from Napoleon in January 1810, Adélaïde de La Rochefoucauld applied to the emperor to be allowed to continue in her position as dame d'honneur for the next empress, Marie Louise of Austria . Napoleon was however shocked by her request, regarded it as disloyalty toward Josephine, and asked Josephine to dismiss her. She was replaced as the dame d'honneur of Josephine by one of

874-588: The Order of Malta, President of the French association, Chancellor of the « Académie des Psychologues du Goût » Edmée de La Rochefoucauld (1896-1991), French activist Emmanuel, Prince de La Rochefoucauld-Montbel (1883-1974), diplomat, ambassadeur, owner of the Grottes de Lascaux with his marriage to Simone Darblay François III de La Rochefoucauld (1521–1572), French courtier and soldier François de La Rochefoucauld (cardinal) (1558–1645), French cardinal of

912-510: The age of 88 in Ouzouer-sur-Trézée emerged on 8 May 2012, first announced by his family in the French newspaper Le Figaro and then reported late in June in the British press. Neither La Rochefoucauld nor his missions to France appear in the official history SOE in France , first published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office in 1966. His name has yet to be traced in the SOE archives, held at

950-607: The air. Such an important, large-scale demolition would have ranked at the top of SOE's achievements, but SOE's extensive examination of its own sabotage work, undertaken across France in 1945, does not mention it. Nor does SOE's detailed report on its activities in France, submitted in June 1946, just prior to its amalgamation by MI6 , and written by an officer with an intimate knowledge of its operations, make any mention of La Rochefoucauld. However, an entry on page 75 refers to: "Corps Franc Georges – Attack on St. Medard powder works (out of action 15 days)", which calls into question

988-407: The bombing attack had finished. Evaluating the results shortly afterwards, an RAF photo-reconnaissance report confirmed that the target had been "heavily damaged": six large warehouse buildings had been wiped out; at least half of the smaller buildings were damaged or destroyed; the railway line into the plant had been "severed by direct hits at many points"; and three 90-foot craters were visible from

1026-685: The clandestine unit which Prime Minister Winston Churchill created in 1940 to "set Europe ablaze", as he put it, by working with resistance groups on the German-occupied Continent. Received by Charles de Gaulle , he expressed his difficulty choosing between service in the SOE and the Free French Forces, and was encouraged to choose the SOE: "If it is for France, then go ahead." The British flew La Rochefoucauld to London, where they trained him to jump out of aeroplanes, set off explosives and kill

1064-533: The court that Papon had risked his life to help the Resistance and the Allies . Papon was convicted of complicity in Nazi crimes against humanity but fled to Switzerland while appealing. He was arrested at a Gstaad hotel, where he had registered as Robert Rochefoucauld. One of Papon's lawyers said La Rochefoucauld had given his passport to Papon to help him escape. Papon died in 2007. The news of La Rochefoucauld's death at

1102-695: The extent of damage from the RAF raid at the end of April 1944 as reported the following day in The Times . Nor do local archives in Saint-Médard report any extensive property damage for that date. According to La Rochefoucauld, he was exfiltrated by submarine off the coast of Berck , near Calais , at the end of February 1944, yet according to official sources SOE conducted no sea operations east of Brittany during this period. Paul Kix's biography, The Saboteur , refers to Motor Gun Boat No. 502 as La Rochefoucauld's means of escaping France, although not through Calais. On

1140-432: The intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=La_Rochefoucauld&oldid=1178882141 " Categories : Disambiguation pages Disambiguation pages with surname-holder lists Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Ad%C3%A9la%C3%AFde de Pyvart de Chastull%C3%A9 She

1178-554: The local Resistance leader, waking the next day with a hangover. However, La Rochefoucauld was soon imprisoned by the Germans once more in Fort du Hâ  [ fr ] in Bordeaux. In his cell, he feigned an epileptic seizure , and, when a guard opened the door, hit him over the head with a table leg and then broke his neck. He took the guard's uniform and pistol, shot two other guards, and escaped. Desperate to avoid recapture, he contacted

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1216-606: The subject of his recruitment, La Rochefoucauld mentions that Eric Piquet-Wicks, then deputy for SOE's RF Section, spotted his potential in Spain in late 1942, but Piquet-Wicks did not arrive in Spain until spring 1944, when he took up a more junior role in Madrid after recovering from tuberculosis . According to Kix, La Rochefoucauld met in Spain with Ambassador Samuel Hoare and met Piquet-Wicks later, in London. A file on La Rochefoucauld held at

1254-576: The trip to Berlin and was kissed on the mouth by Soviet Red Army officer Georgy Zhukov , then the commander of the Soviet zone of occupation; Zhukov had misheard his name as La Rochezhukov . The SOE was disbanded in 1946. As an officer in the postwar French military, La Rochefoucauld trained French troops and conducted raids on the Việt Minh during the First Indochina War , as well as participating in

1292-490: The underground. The Spanish authorities (under Francisco Franco ) interned the three men in the prison camp Miranda de Ebro , but La Rochefoucauld pretended to be English and was delivered to the British Embassy during an organised evacuation. The British, having secured the men's freedom, were so impressed with La Rochefoucauld's boldness and ingenuity that they asked him to join the Special Operations Executive (SOE),

1330-628: Was born in Paris , one of 10 children in a family living in a fashionable area near the Eiffel Tower . His father, Olivier de La Rochefoucauld, and his mother, the daughter of the Duke of Maillé , were members of the French nobility; he used the aristocratic title of count in his later years. He studied at private schools in Switzerland and Austria , and, at age 15, received a pat on the cheek from Adolf Hitler on

1368-539: Was born in Paris as the heiress of a rich plantation owner from Saint Domingue . Her father was allied to the Beauharnais family, and she married Alexandre, comte de La Rochefoucauld (1767–1841), in Paris on 9 June 1788. She had three sons and one daughter. Her daughter later married Francesco Borghese  [ fr ] , a brother-in-law of Pauline Bonaparte , Princess Borghese. She had reportedly been an acquaintance of Josephine since before she became an empress. She

1406-473: Was described as highly efficient in her task. Described as a haughty grande dame and as an ancien regime royalist she is said to have cowed the emperor in to silence at times. Napoleon disliked her and called her "a little cripple, as stupid as she is ugly". According to Laure Junot , she never actually enjoyed her position and had to be persuaded by Josephine to accept it. It is noted that she preferred not to use her apartment her position entitled her to at

1444-497: Was imprisoned during the Terror of Robespierre and had met Josephine soon after they had both been released from prison. In 1804, when Napoleon made himself Emperor and his wife Empress of France, he created an Imperial court and had ladies-in-waiting appointed to empress Josephine. de La Rochefoucauld was appointed to the position of dame d'honneur to the empress Josephine, which was the highest rank of all ladies-in-waiting, over ranking

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