Paul-Louis Weiller (September 29, 1893,
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 ...
- December 6, 1993,
Geneva
Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...
) was a French industrialist and philanthropist.
Biography
From a Jewish Alsatian family, Weiller was the son of the industrialist and politician
Lazare Weiller
Lazare Weiller (20 July 1858 – 12 August 1928) was a French engineer, industrialist, and politician. He was born in Alsace and received a technical education in England and in his cousin's copper factory in Angoulême. He was very interested in ...
(1858–1928) and
Alice Anna Javal (1869–1943), scion of the
Javal family
The Javal family originated in Alsace. They benefited from Napoleon I's policy of Napoleon and the Jews, openness toward Jews, and in the 19th century experienced a remarkable ascent, with family members becoming prominent bankers, industrialists ...
, who rose to prominence in business, finance, and politics during the 19th century. His maternal grandfather was
Louis Émile Javal
Louis Émile Javal (5 May 1839 – 20 January 1907) was a French ophthalmologist born in Paris. Javal is remembered for his studies of physiological optics and his work involving a disorder known as strabismus.
Early life
He was born in Par ...
. Through his mother he was the cousin of
Louise Weiss
Louise Weiss (25 January 1893 – 26 May 1983) was a French author, journalist, feminist, and European Union, European politician. She was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1971 Nobel Peace Prize, 1971 and for the Nobel Prize in Literatur ...
and
Jenny Aubry.
Weiller studied engineering at the
École Centrale Paris
École or Ecole may refer to:
* an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by Secondary education in France, secondary education establishments (collège and lycée)
* École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing i ...
and graduated in 1914 with a graduate diploma. He later became an aviation hero during the
First World War
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. Using aerial photography during his reconnaissance flights, he was shot down on several occasions and wounded.
[Biography fro]
Musée aéronautique et spatial du groupe SAFRAN
(accessed 23 August 2008)
Receiving 12 honorable citations from the army, he was made an officer in the
Legion of Honor
The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and civil. Currently consisting of five classes, it was ...
at the age of 25 (the youngest officer in the Legion of Honor to be so awarded after
Georges Guynemer
Georges Marie Lodovic Jules Guynemer (, 24 December 1894 – 11 September 1917 Missing in action, MIA) was the second highest-scoring French Third Republic, French Flying ace, fighter ace with 54 victories during World War I, and a French ...
and
René Fonck
Colonel René Paul Fonck (27 March 1894 – 18 June 1953) was a French aviator who ended the First World War as the top Triple Entente, Entente fighter Flying ace, ace and, when all succeeding aerial conflicts of the 20th and 21st centurie ...
), he finished the war next to
maréchal Foch and was present at the signing of the
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed on 28 June 1919. As the most important treaty of World War I, it ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allies of World War I, Allied Powers. It was signed in the Palace ...
as an
aide-de-camp to the allied armies.
A business leader from the age of 29 (from 1922 to 1940), Weiller developed the most important airplane engine factory in Europe,
Gnome et Rhône
Gnome et Rhône was a major French aircraft engine manufacturer. Between 1914 and 1918 they produced 25,000 of their 9-cylinder Delta and Le Rhône 110 hp (81 kW) rotary designs, while another 75,000 were produced by various licensee ...
, which became
Snecma S. A. after nationalization in 1945. From 1925, he progressively purchased capital in the aviation company
CIDNA. He also participated in the creation of airlines serving Africa, which were all nationalized in 1933 to become
Air France
Air France (; legally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the flag carrier of France, and is headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. The airline is a subsidiary of the Air France-KLM Group and is one of the founding members ...
, of which he was one of the company's first administrators (in 1933, he was offered the post of president of
Air France
Air France (; legally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the flag carrier of France, and is headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. The airline is a subsidiary of the Air France-KLM Group and is one of the founding members ...
by
Pierre Cot
Pierre Jules Cot (20 November 1895, in Grenoble – 21 August 1977, Paris), was a French politician and leading figure in the Popular Front government of the 1930s.
Born in Grenoble into a conservative Catholic family, he entered politics as ...
, the then ''ministre de l'Air'', but refused the offer).
In 1940, Weiller and his family, his wife Aliki, his son Paul-Annik and his mother-in-law, Hélène Diplarakos, travelled to Bordeaux, France, where they received transit visas to Portugal from the Portuguese consul
Aristides de Sousa Mendes
Aristides de Sousa Mendes do Amaral e Abranches (; July 19, 1885 – April 3, 1954) was a Portuguese diplomat who is recognized in Portugal as a national hero for his actions during World War II. As the Portuguese consul-general in the French ...
, on 22 June. The family crossed into Portugal and stayed in Monte Estoril, at the Grande Hotel D'Itália, between 15 August and 23 August 1940, and the Hotel Atlântico, between 23 August and 25 September 1940. The family then flew from Lisbon to New York City on the Pan Am Atlantic Clipper seaplane in October 1940, with the exception of Paul-Louis.
[Sousa Mendes Foundation ]
Diplarakos/Weiller Family
Arrested on 6 October 1940 in
Royat, he was stripped of his French citizenship by the
Vichy government
Vichy France (; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was a French rump state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II, established as a result of the French capitulation after the defeat against ...
and placed under house arrest in Marseille. He escaped in January 1942, fleeing first to
Morocco
Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...
, then to
Cuba
Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
, and finally to
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
, where he contributed to the efforts of
''France libre'' (he was issued passport no. 1). His mother was deported and murdered at
Auschwitz
Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It consisted of Auschw ...
in 1943.

Returning to Europe after the war, he began to concentrate his business activities first on energy (oil exploration in
Venezuela
Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...
and the
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...
; natural gas exploration in
Texas
Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
; electricity companies in Japan, etc.), and then later he focused on international finance. He subsequently became a philanthropist of the arts; through his influence and financial support, he contributed to the restoration of the
Palace of Versailles
The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of ÃŽle-de-France, ÃŽle-de-France region in Franc ...
, created a ballet company, and aided a number of artists (
Robert Hossein
Robert Hossein (30 December 1927 – 31 December 2020) was a French film actor, director, and writer. He directed Les Misérables (1982 film), the 1982 adaptation of ''Les Misérables'' and appeared in ''Vice and Virtue'', ''Le Casse'', ''Les U ...
,
Roger Vadim
Roger Vadim Plemiannikov (; 26 January 1928 – 11 February 2000) was a French screenwriter, film director, and producer, as well as an author, artist, and occasional actor. His best-known works are visually lavish films with erotic qualities, s ...
,
Maurice Béjart
Maurice Béjart (; 1 January 1927 – 22 November 2007) was a French dancer, choreographer and Theatre director, opera director who ran the Béjart Ballet Lausanne in Switzerland. He developed a popular expressionistic form of modern ballet, tac ...
,
Michèle Mercier
Michèle Mercier (born 1 January 1939 as Jocelyne Yvonne Renée Mercier) is a French actress. ,
Brigitte Bardot
Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot ( ; ; born 28 September 1934), often referred to by her initials B.B., is a French former actress, singer, and model as well as an animal rights activist. Famous for portraying characters with Hedonism, hedonistic life ...
,
Alain Delon
Alain Fabien Maurice Marcel Delon (; 8 November 1935 – 18 August 2024) was a French actor, film producer, screenwriter, singer, and businessman. Acknowledged as a cultural and cinematic leading man of the 20th century, Delon emerged as one of ...
, etc.). His objective was to revive Paris as the capital of culture, an action that led to his election to the
Académie des beaux-arts
The (; ) is a French learned society based in Paris. It is one of the five academies of the . The current president of the academy (2021) is Alain-Charles Perrot, a French architect.
Background
The academy was created in 1816 in Paris as a me ...
.
Paul-Louis Weiller led an active social life associating with the royal families of Europe, business and political leaders (
Aristotle Onassis
Aristotle Socrates Onassis (, ; , ; 20 January 1906 – 15 March 1975) was a Greek and Argentine business magnate. He amassed the world's largest privately-owned shipping fleet and was one of the world's richest and most famous men. He was marri ...
,
Henry Ford II
Henry Ford II (September 4, 1917 – September 29, 1987), commonly known as Hank the Deuce, was an American businessman in the automotive industry. He was the oldest son of Edsel Ford I and oldest grandson of Henry Ford. He served as president ...
,
Jean Paul Getty
Jean Paul Getty Sr. (; December 15, 1892 – June 6, 1976) was an American petroleum industrialist who founded the Getty Oil Company in 1942 and was the patriarch of the Getty family. A native of Minneapolis, Minnesota, he was the son of pion ...
,
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...
, and
Georges Pompidou
Georges Jean Raymond Pompidou ( ; ; 5 July 19112 April 1974) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1969 until his death in 1974. He previously served as Prime Minister of France under President Charles de Gaulle from 19 ...
, some of whom from time to time worked for him), and personalities in the arts and entertainment, whom he gathered in last of the salon traditions as described by
Marcel Proust
Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust ( ; ; 10 July 1871 – 18 November 1922) was a French novelist, literary critic, and essayist who wrote the novel (in French – translated in English as ''Remembrance of Things Past'' and more r ...
. His home on the
French Riviera
The French Riviera, known in French as the (; , ; ), is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France. There is no official boundary, but it is considered to be the coastal area of the Alpes-Maritimes department, extending fr ...
, the
villa ''La Reine Jeanne'' (designed by the American architect
Barry Dierks
Barry Dierks (1899 – February 20, 1960) was an American architect of the Modernist movement. He was active in France, principally on the French Riviera from 1925 to the 1950s.
Biography
Son of W. C. Dierks, managing director of C. C. Mellor p ...
), attracted international society for the greater part of the 20th century. Weiller's philanthropic activities included numerous charitable works.
Weiller died at the age of 100 years in Geneva and found his final resting place at the cemetery of Compesières, which is located next to the
Compesières Commandry of the
Order of Malta
The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta, and commonly known as the Order of Malta or the Knights of Malta, is a Catholic Church, Cathol ...
, in the Genevan municipality of
Bardonnex.
A small park in the city of
Sélestat
Sélestat (; Alsatian language, Alsatian: ''Schlettstà dt''; German: ''Schlettstadt'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Grand Est region of France. An administrative division (Subprefectures in France, sous-préfecture) of the Bas-Rhin Depa ...
(Bas-Rhin), of which he was made an honorary citizen, was named in his honor.
Personal life
On 29 August 1922 in Paris, Weiller married Princess Alexandra Ghica, the daughter of Prince Ioan
Ghica
The House of Ghica r Ghika(; }; , ''Gikas'') was an Albanian noble family whose members held significant positions in Wallachia, Moldavia and later in the Kingdom of Romania, between the early 17th century and late 19th century. The Ghica famil ...
(1875–1922) and his wife Hazel Marie Paliner-Singer (1882–1951). With his first wife, he had one daughter,
Marie-Élisabeth 1924–2006), later the wife of Irisarri.
Weiller and Alexandra were divorced on 25 March 1931, and on 31 October 1932 he married secondly
Aliki Diplarakou
Aliki, Lady Russell (; born Aliki Diplarakou; 28 August 1912 – 30 October 2002) was the first Maniot Greek contestant to win the Miss Europe title. She previously had won the "Miss Hellas" () title at the Miss Star Hellas pageant.
Family
She w ...
(Miss Europe of 1930), from whom he was also later divorced. They had one son,
Paul-Annik, whose daughter, Sibilla Weiller, married
Prince Guillaume of Luxembourg
Prince Guillaume of Luxembourg (''Guillaume Marie Louis Christian''; born 1 May 1963) is the third son and youngest child of Grand Duke Jean and Grand Duchess Josephine-Charlotte of Luxembourg.
Life
Prince Guillaume was born in Betzdorf ...
, youngest son of
Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg
Jean (Jean Benoît Guillaume Robert Antoine Louis Marie Adolphe Marc d'Aviano; 5 January 1921 – 23 April 2019) was the Grand Duke of Luxembourg from 1964 until his abdication in 2000. He was the first Grand Duke of Luxembourg of French agnati ...
, in 1994.
References
Further reading
* Jacques Mousseau, ''Le Siècle de Paul-Louis Weiller 1893-1993'', Stock, 1998.
* Roger Faligot, Remi Kauffer, ''Éminences grises'', Fayard, 1992.
External links
Musée aéronautique et spatial du groupe SAFRAN Biography on museesafran.com
on stratisc.org
*
ttp://www.lexpress.fr/region/les-javal-wallerstein-weiller-ou-la-medecine-de-campagne_766081.html Les Javal-Wallerstein-Weiller ou la médecine de campagne"Les Grandes Familles du Bassin Arcachon," ''L'express'' 21 May 2009
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weiller, Paul-Louis
1893 births
1993 deaths
École Centrale Paris alumni
French Holocaust survivors
French men centenarians
French art patrons
French industrialists
20th-century French people
20th-century French Jews
Jewish centenarians