Claude Silberzahn (18 March 1935 – 18 April 2020) was a French high
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 ...
.
Silberzahn was
Prefect
Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area.
A prefect' ...
of
French Guiana
French Guiana, or Guyane in French, is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France located on the northern coast of South America in the Guianas and the West Indies. Bordered by Suriname to the west ...
(1982–84), of
Seine-Maritime
Seine-Maritime () is a department of France in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the northern coast of France, at the mouth of the Seine, and includes the cities of Rouen and Le Havre. Until 1955 it was named Seine-Infà ...
(1985-86, with jurisdiction over the region of
Haute-Normandie
Upper Normandy (, ; ) is a former administrative region of France. On 1 January 2016, Upper and Lower Normandy merged becoming one region called Normandy.
History
It was created in 1956 from two departments: Seine-Maritime and Eure, when Nor ...
) and
Doubs
Doubs (, ; ; ) is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in Eastern France. Named after the river Doubs, it had a population of 543,974 in 2019.[Franche-Comté
Franche-Comté (, ; ; Frainc-Comtou dialect, Frainc-Comtou: ''Fraintche-Comtè''; ; also ; ; all ) is a cultural and Provinces of France, historical region of eastern France. It is composed of the modern departments of France, departments of Doub ...]
).
He was Director-General of
DGSE
The Directorate-General for External Security (, , DGSE) is France's foreign intelligence agency, equivalent to the British MI6 and the American CIA, established on 27 November 1943. The DGSE safeguards French national security through intellige ...
, the French external intelligence agency, from 23 March 1989 to 7 June 1993.
He was mayor of
Simorre, a village in
Gers
Gers (; or , ) is a departments of France, department in the regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Southwestern France. Gers is bordered by the departments of Hautes-Pyrénées and Pyrénées-Atlantiques to ...
department, from 2001 to 2014.
He died on 18 April 2020.
References
External links
* Brigitte Henri
''Histoire secrète des RG''* Claude Silberzahn's ''
Acteurs publics'' biography (via
Europresse)
1935 births
2020 deaths
École nationale de la France d'Outre-Mer alumni
Prefects of French Guiana
Prefects of Doubs
Prefects of Seine-Maritime
Judges of the Court of Audit (France)
French people of German descent
Directors of the Directorate-General for External Security
Mayors of places in Occitania (administrative region)
People from Mulhouse
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