Henri Frenay

Henry Frenay (1905-1988) was a French military officer and French resistance member.

Henry Frenay was born in Lyons, France in November 11 1905. He studied in the Germanic Studies in Strasbourg. Afterwards he became a soldier like his father and studied in Saint Cyr and l'Ecole superieure de guerre and reached the rank of captain in 1934. At the outbreak of World War Two, he rejoined the French army. German forces captured him in Vosges. He escaped from a POW camp in Alsace in June 27 1940 and made his way to Marseilles.

At first Frenay supported the Vichy Regime but was soon disillusioned and formed the French Resistance group Mouvement de liberation nationale in 1940. He became became an editor of underground newspapers like Verites and had a hand in the formation of the Combat group in November 1941. In 1942 he and his group joined the Conseil National de la Resistance of Jean Moulin although Frenay was critical of Charles de Gaulle.

When Gestapo captured Jean Moulin, Frenay fled to Algiers. In November 1943 he met De Gaulle who appointed him as a minister of prisoners, refugees and deportees.

After the war, Frenay served in De Gaulle's first provisional government. Afterwards he retired from the political life and became a businessman. He published his autobiography, The Night Will End: Memoirs of a Revolutionary in 1976.

Henry Frenay died at Porto Vecchio, Corsica in August 8 1988.