Baron Geoffroy Chodron de Courcel (11 September 1912,

Tours Tours ( ; ) is the largest city in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabita ...

- 9 December 1992,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

), was a French nobleman, soldier and diplomat. He was Aide-de-Camp to

Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French general and statesman who led the Free France, Free French Forces against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Re ...

in 1940 and escaped to England with the

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

on 17 June 1940 with the help of General Sir Edward Spears. Geoffroy Chodron was the first

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

to sign up with the

Free French Forces __NOTOC__ The French Liberation Army ( ; AFL) was the reunified French Army that arose from the merging of the Armée d'Afrique with the prior Free French Forces (; FFL) during World War II. The military force of Free France, it participated ...

, established by De Gaulle when he was in London. From 1941 he served as De Gaulle’s private secretary and would later command a squadron of the 1er régiment de marche de Spahis marocains ( 1st Spahi Regiment), formed out of other units. After the War, he returned to the French Foreign Ministry before holding several important appointments, including that of Ambassador to the United Kingdom from 16 March 1962 until 20 April 1972.

Family

The Chodron de Courcel family, who were

landed gentry The landed gentry, or the gentry (sometimes collectively known as the squirearchy), is a largely historical Irish and British social class of landowners who could live entirely from rental income, or at least had a country estate. It is t ...

(or ''petite noblesse''), were created

Baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than ...

s by Emperor

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was President of France from 1848 to 1852 and then Emperor of the French from 1852 until his deposition in 1870. He was the first president, second emperor, and last ...

. He was the only son of Baron Louis de Chodron de Courcel (1874-1962), by his wife Alice Lambert-Champy (1886-1967); S.E. Baron Geoffroy Chodron de Courcel had three sisters: *Louise: married Xavier Baudon de Mony *Elisabeth: married Olivier, comte de Chastellux *Henriette: married

Louis Louis may refer to: People * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer Other uses * Louis (coin), a French coin * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also ...

, marquis de Lasteyrie. His grandfather, Baron Alphonse Chodron de Courcel, was French Ambassador to London from 1894 until 1898.

Honours

Grand-croix de la Légion d'honneur * Ordre de la Liberation 2nd ribbon

Compagnon de la Libération

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Courcel, Geoffroy Chodron 1912 births 1992 deaths Concorde Military personnel from Tours, France French military personnel of World War II Ambassadors of France to the United Kingdom Companions of the Liberation Nobility of the Second French Empire French barons