Philippe Henri Xavier Antoine de Gaulle (born 28 December 1921) is a French retired admiral and senator. He is the eldest child and only son of General Charles de Gaulle, the first

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

of the

French Fifth Republic The Fifth Republic (french: Cinquième République) is France's current republican system of government. It was established on 4 October 1958 by Charles de Gaulle under the Constitution of the Fifth Republic.. The Fifth Republic emerged from ...

, and his wife Yvonne. He is the only living child of De Gaulle.

Early life

De Gaulle was born in Paris on 28 December 1921 and was baptised on 8 June of the following year in the Church of St. Francis Xavier in the 7th Arrondissement. He was educated at the Collège Stanislas de Paris, where his father had also studied, and subsequently joined the

French Navy The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...

. According to Charles de Gaulle, Philippe was named after his family ancestor Jean-Baptiste de Gaulle, though it has been claimed that he was named after General

Philippe Pétain Henri Philippe Benoni Omer Pétain (24 April 1856 – 23 July 1951), commonly known as Philippe Pétain (, ) or Marshal Pétain (french: Maréchal Pétain), was a French general who attained the position of Marshal of France at the end of Worl ...

, of whom his father was a great admirer.

Free French naval officer

A student at the

École Navale École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

at the time of the

invasion of France France has been invaded on numerous occasions, by foreign powers or rival French governments; there have also been unimplemented invasion plans. * the 1746 War of the Austrian Succession, Austria-Italian forces supported by the British navy attemp ...

in 1940, he did not hear his father's

appeal of 18 June The Appeal of 18 June (french: L'Appel du 18 juin) was the first speech made by Charles de Gaulle after his arrival in London in 1940 following the Battle of France. Broadcast to Vichy France by the radio services of the British Broadcasting Cor ...

, but escaped to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and declared his allegiance to

Free France Free France (french: France Libre) was a political entity that claimed to be the legitimate government of France following the dissolution of the Third Republic. Led by French general , Free France was established as a government-in-exile ...

, joining the

Free French Naval Forces The Free French Naval Forces (french: Forces Navales Françaises Libres, or FNFL) were the naval arm of the Free French Forces during the Second World War. They were commanded by Admiral Émile Muselier. History In the wake of the Armistice a ...

. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

he fought in the Channel campaign and in the Battle of the Atlantic. Promoted to sub-lieutenant in 1943, de Gaulle participated in the Battle of France (1944–1945) as a platoon commander of the

Régiment Blindé de Fusiliers-Marins The Régiment Blindé de Fusiliers-Marins or ( RBFM) was an armored naval infantry regiment of the French 2nd Armored Division. The regiment belonged to the units of the French Fusiliers Marins which are units of the French Navy whose ships we ...

, an armoured regiment of marines of the 2nd Armoured Division. On 25 August 1944, he participated in the liberation of Paris and was sent from the Montparnasse Station to carry the order to obtain the surrender of the Germans entrenched at the

Palais Bourbon The Palais Bourbon () is the meeting place of the National Assembly, the lower legislative chamber of the French Parliament. It is located in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, on the '' Rive Gauche'' of the Seine, across from the Place de la Con ...

in the premises of the National Assembly. Risking being shot if things went wrong, he negotiated among them, alone and unarmed. He fought in the Vosges during the winter of 1944–1945.

Postwar naval career

De Gaulle was promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

in 1948, and received in 1952 the command of the naval ''flottille'' 6F. He was promoted to

corvette captain Corvette captain is a rank in many navies which theoretically corresponds to command of a corvette (small warship). The equivalent rank in the United Kingdom, Commonwealth, and United States is lieutenant commander. The Royal Canadian Navy uses ...

(

lieutenant-commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding rank i ...

) in 1956 and to

frigate captain Frigate captain is a naval rank in the naval forces of several countries. Corvette captain lies one level below frigate captain. It is usually equivalent to the Commonwealth/US Navy rank of commander. Countries using this rank include Argentin ...

( commander) in 1961, commanding the fast frigate (''Escorteur Rapide'') ''Le Picard'' (1960–1961). He pursued a military career as a

French Naval Aviation French Naval Aviation (often abbreviated in French to: ''Aéronavale'' (contraction of Aéronautique navale), or ''Aviation navale'', or more simply ''l'Aéro'') is the naval air arm of the French Navy. The long-form official designation is ' ...

pilot and was made naval aviation commander of the Paris Region (1964–1966). Promoted to ''capitaine de vaisseau'' rank in 1966, he commanded the missile-launching frigate ''Suffren'' from 1967 to 1968. In 1971 he was promoted to

rear-admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

(''contre-amiral''), becoming commander of the naval group of test and measurement ("GROUPEM") (1973–1974) where he hoisted his flag on the Missile Range Instrumentation and Command and Control ship ''Henri Poincaré''. He was then commander of aviation maritime patrol (ALPATMAR) from 1974 to 1975 and was promoted to vice-admiral (''vice-amiral'') in 1975. From 1976 to 1977 he was Commander of the Atlantic Fleet and was elevated to

squadron vice-admiral Squadron vice-admiral (french: Vice-amiral d'escadre) is a naval rank found in navies of the world which follow the French tradition of naval ranks. The squadron vice-admiral leads a squadron and is typically senior to a vice-admiral and jun ...

(''vice-amiral d'escadre'') in 1977. Promoted to admiral in 1980, he finished his military career as Inspector General of the

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...

, retiring in 1982.

Politician

From 1986 to 2004 (reelected in 1995), de Gaulle served as a senator from Paris in the RPR and UMP. Near the end of the 1960s, a "legitimist"

Gaullist Gaullism (french: link=no, Gaullisme) is a French political stance based on the thought and action of World War II French Resistance leader Charles de Gaulle, who would become the founding President of the Fifth French Republic. De Gaulle with ...

party led by Joseph Bozzi advocated de Gaulle as the only ''legitimate heir'' of Gaullism. De Gaulle's influence, however, remained very low.

Personal life

On 30 December 1947 de Gaulle married Henriette de Montalembert Cers (1 January 1929 – 22 June 2014), a descendant of the family of the

Marquis de Montalembert A marquess (; french: marquis ), es, marqués, pt, marquês. is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman w ...

. The marriage was blessed by Admiral

Georges Thierry d'Argenlieu Georges Thierry d'Argenlieu, in religion Father Louis of the Trinity, O.C.D. (7 August 1889 – 7 September 1964), was a Discalced Carmelite friar and priest, who was also a diplomat and French Navy officer and admiral; he became one of the m ...

, one of the commanders of the Free French Naval Forces during the war. The couple had four sons: * Charles de Gaulle II (

Dijon Dijon (, , ) (dated) * it, Digione * la, Diviō or * lmo, Digion is the prefecture of the Côte-d'Or department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in northeastern France. the commune had a population of 156,920. The earlies ...

, 25 September 1948), corporate lawyer, first MEP in the UDF and RPR labels, he joined the National Front in May 1999. *Yves de Gaulle ( Rabat,

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...

, 1 September 1951), technocrat, general secretary of

GDF SUEZ Engie SA is a French multinational utility company, headquartered in La Défense, Courbevoie, which operates in the fields of energy transition, electricity generation and distribution, natural gas, nuclear, renewable energy and petroleum. It ...

. * Jean de Gaulle (

Bourg-en-Bresse Bourg-en-Bresse (; frp, Bôrg) is the prefecture of the Ain department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Eastern France. Located northeast of Lyon, it is the capital of the ancient province of Bresse ( frp, Brêsse, links=no). In 2018, ...

, 13 June 1953), former deputy of

Deux-Sèvres Deux-Sèvres () is a French department. ''Deux-Sèvres'' literally means "two Sèvres": the Sèvre Nantaise and the Sèvre Niortaise are two rivers which have their sources in the department. It had a population of 374,878 in 2019.

and

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

(1986–2007, resigned), he became the master to the Court of Auditors. *Pierre de Gaulle (Suresnes, 20 June 1963) De Gaulle turned 100 in December 2021.

Honours

* Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour (2005) (Grand Officer – 1980) * Grand Cross of the National Order of Merit * War Cross 1939–1945 * Medal of Aeronautics Charles never appointed his son a Companion of the Liberation, probably to avoid being open to possible accusations of nepotism. Yet, in the opinion of some Gaullists and companions, Philippe would not have been undeserving of this honour, given his immediate engagement in Free France and his service in the army for five years, often at the forefront. Nor did Philippe's father award his son the medal of the Resistance.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaulle, Philippe de 1921 births Living people French people of Breton descent Politicians from Paris French Navy admirals Children of national leaders of France French Senators of the Fifth Republic École Navale alumni French Navy personnel of World War II Free French Naval Forces officers Philippe Recipients of the Aeronautical Medal Grand Croix of the Légion d'honneur Grand Cross of the Ordre national du Mérite Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France) Senators of Paris French centenarians Men centenarians