French general (died 2010)

Marcel Bigeard

Marcel Bigeard, personal radio call-sign "Bruno", was a French military officer and politician who fought in World War II, the First Indochina War and the Algerian War. He was one of the commanders in the Battle of Dien Bien Phu and is thought by many to have been a dominating influence on French "unconventional" warfare thinking from that time onwards. He was one of the most decorated officers in France, and is particularly noteworthy because of his rise from being a regular soldier in 1936 to ultimately concluding his career in 1976 as a Lieutenant General and serving in the government of Valéry Giscard d'Estaing.

Born

1916

February 14

Died

Living

Era

1910s

Country

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About

Marcel, in brief

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Life timeline

Key dates

1916 Born

Also on February 14

What else happened on this day, through history

748 Abbasid Revolution: The Hashimi rebels under Abu Muslim Khorasani take Merv, capital of the Umayyad province Khorasan, marking the consolidation of the Abbasid revolt.
763 The death of Ibrahim ibn Abdallah marks the end of the Alid revolt of 762–763.
842 Charles the Bald and Louis the German swear the Oaths of Strasbourg in the French and German languages.
1014 Pope Benedict VIII crowns Henry of Bavaria, King of Germany and of Italy, as Holy Roman Emperor.

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The world in 1916

When Marcel arrived

april 18 World War I: During a mine warfare in high altitude on the Dolomites, the Italian troops conquer the Col di Lana held by the Austrian army.
april 24 Easter Rising: Irish rebels, led by Patrick Pearse and James Connolly, launch an uprising in Dublin against British rule and proclaim an Irish Republic.
april 24 Ernest Shackleton and five men of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition launch a lifeboat from uninhabited Elephant Island in the Southern Ocean to organise a rescue for the crew of the sunken Endurance.
april 25 Anzac Day is commemorated for the first time on the first anniversary of the landing at ANZAC Cove.

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Same-day contemporaries

Also born on February 14

Andrew Robinson 1942– American actor and director Drew Bledsoe 1972– American football player and coach Fritz Zwicky 1898– Swiss-American physicist and astronomer (died 1974) Hazel McCallion 1921–2023 Canadian businesswoman and politician, 3rd Mayor of Mississauga (died 2023) Herbert A. Hauptman 1917–2011 American mathematician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2011) Jean Victor Marie Moreau 1763–1813 French general (died 1813) John Barrymore 1882–1942 American actor (died 1942) Juan Ponce Enrile 1924–2025 Filipino politician and lawyer (died 2025) Julian Scott 1846– American soldier and drummer, Medal of Honor recipient (died 1901)

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Same-year contemporaries

Also born in 1916

Ahmad Abd al-Ghafur Attar 1916–1991 Saudi Arabian writer and journalist (born 1916) Bill Durnan 1916–1972 Canadian ice hockey player and coach (died 1972) Billy Hitchcock 1916–2006 American baseball player, coach, manager (born 1916) C. Wright Mills American sociologist and author (died 1962) 1916– Chick Hearn 1916–2002 American sportscaster (born 1916) Colin McCool 1916– Australian cricketer (died 1986) Deendayal Upadhyaya 1916– Indian economist, sociologist, and journalist (died 1968) Dom Mintoff 1916–2012 Maltese journalist and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Malta (born 1916) Don Tallon 1916–1984 Australian cricketer (died 1984)

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More to explore

Marcel's birthday February 14 Marcel's zodiac Aquarius When Marcel arrived 1916