Louis François Armand (; 17 January 1905 – 30 August 1971) was a French

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

and senior

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

who managed several public companies, as well as had a significant role in World War II as an officer in the Resistance. He became the first president of the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) as chair of the Armand Commission from 1958 to 1959 before he was elected to the

Académie Française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

in 1963. A station on Marseille Metro Line 1 opened in 2010 under Boulevard Louis-Armand bears his name.

Biography

Early years

Louis Armand was born in Cruseilles, Haute-Savoie, and studied in

Annecy Annecy ( , ; , also ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Haute-Savoie Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, regi ...

and in

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

at the Lycée du Parc. He graduated second in his class from the

École Polytechnique (, ; also known as Polytechnique or l'X ) is a ''grande école'' located in Palaiseau, France. It specializes in science and engineering and is a founding member of the Polytechnic Institute of Paris. The school was founded in 1794 by mat ...

(class of 1924), then joined the Corps des Mines and was major from École des Mines. He married his wife, Genevieve Gazel, in 1928.

Career

He joined the Compagnie du chemin de fer Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée (PLM) in 1934, transferring to the

Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Français The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (, , SNCF ) is France's national State-owned enterprise, state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the Rail transport in France, country's national rail traffic along with th ...

(SNCF) when the PLM was nationalised in 1938. In 1940–1941 he invented a method for preventing the calcification, furring up, of engine boilers called the ''Traitement Integral Armand'' (TIA) water treatment process for

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, Fuel oil, oil or, rarely, Wood fuel, wood) to heat ...

s.Direct Chemical Treatment of Boiler Water Compared to Lineside Treatment
During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he organized and led the Resistance group named Résistance-Fer, from February 1943 onwards. He was arrested by the

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

on 25 June 1944. He was liberated from jail during the liberation of Paris, and was decorated with the Croix de la Liberation. In 1949, Armand was named the general manager of the

SNCF The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (, , SNCF ) is France's national State-owned enterprise, state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the Rail transport in France, country's national rail traffic along with th ...

and created the Société du tunnel sous la Manche in 1957. During this time, he pushed for the electrification of the rail system using AC voltage. From 1958 to 1959, he managed the European atomic energy commission ( Euratom), having inspired its creation. In the late 1960s, after May 1968 in Paris, Louis Armand was instrumental in helping Christian LeClercq and the Junior Chamber of Commerce of Brussels to start a new European thinktank and membership organization: "L'Entreprise de Demain - Forum for Tomorrow". This non-profit and non-political organization was soon going to leave the Junior Chamber of Commerce to become independent. To help that organization, Louis Armand, as a visionary global thinker, provided access to some of the best "global leaders" in international business, world politics, academia and scientific research who addressed the Forum, under the royal guidance of

Baudouin I of Belgium Baudouin (; 7 September 1930 – 31 July 1993) was King of the Belgians from 17 July 1951 until his death in 1993. He was the last Belgian king to be sovereign of the Belgian Congo, Congo, before it became independent in 1960 and became the Demo ...

. "L'Entreprise de Demain - Forum for Tomorrow" soon developed chapters in

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, allowing some of the most brilliant minds of the time to address corporate executives and share their views about the future of the world. Louis Armand wrote a book on "l'Entreprise de Demain" in 1970, and the history of the organization was also published in the "Que Sais-Je?" collection. In 1971, Louis Armand successfully pushed to have the word "creativity" included in the French dictionary. Armand died in

Villers-sur-Mer Villers-sur-Mer () is a commune in the Calvados department in Normandy, northwestern France, with a population of 2,644 as of 2017. Geography The commune is located on the French coast of the English Channel, on the Côte Fleurie, between ...

, at 66. Without the visionary inspiration and guidance of Louis Armand, "L'Entreprise de Demain - Forum for Tomorrow" could never have been formed. The worldwide organization lasted for well over 20 years. Its founder and international president, Christian LeClercq, died in July 2011.

Bibliography

*1961 : ''Plaidoyer pour l’avenir'' *1965 : ''De la Savoie au Val d’Aoste par le tunnel du Mont-Blanc'' *1968 : ''Simples propos'' *1968 : ''Le pari européen'' (with Michel Drancourt) *1969 : ''Propos ferroviaires'' *1970 : ''De la cybernétique à l’intéressement'' *1970 : ''L’Entreprise de demain'' *1974 : ''Message pour ma patrie professionnelle''

References

* Buzaré, Josette (2000). ''Louis Armand, le savoyard du siècle''. Saint-Julien-en-Genevois, France: Éd. La Salévienne. {{DEFAULTSORT:Armand, Louis 1905 births 1971 deaths People from Haute-Savoie Members of the Académie Française French Resistance members 20th-century French engineers French people in rail transport French European commissioners Companions of the Liberation Grand Officers of the Legion of Honour SNCF people