Pierre Marion (24 January 1921 – 17 May 2010) was a French senior official, who was the first director of the

Directorate-General for External Security 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 intelli ...

(DGSE – ''Direction Générale de la Sécurité Extérieure'') from 1981 to 1982, and its predecessor, the

Service de Documentation Extérieure et de Contre-Espionnage Service may refer to: Activities * Administrative service, a required part of the workload of university faculty * Civil service, the body of employees of a government * Community service, volunteer service for the benefit of a community or ...

(SDECE). Marion was born in

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

, and entered 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 ...

at just 18 years of age. Following his education, he joined

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 ...

where he held various management positions from 1956 to 1972. He then became managing director of aerospace manufacturer Aerospatiale's North American operations for ten years. In 1981, Marion was asked by his friend,

Charles Hernu Eugène Charles Hernu (; 3 July 1923 – 17 January 1990) was a French Socialist politician. He served as Minister of Defence from 1981 to 1985, when he was forced to resign over the bombing of the Greenpeace ship '' Rainbow Warrior'' in New Ze ...

(who had been made

Minister of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

François Mitterrand François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand (26 October 19168 January 1996) was a French politician and statesman who served as President of France from 1981 to 1995, the longest holder of that position in the history of France. As a former First ...

's government), if he would become director of the SDECE, the French external intelligence agency. He agreed, and set about modernising the service, reducing its ties to the French military, and changing its name to DGSE. Marion clashed with Mitterrand over several issues, including the creation of an anti-terrorist cell operating from within the President's office, and in 1982 he was replaced by Admiral Pierre Lacoste. Marion died in 2010 in

Louviers Louviers () is a Communes of France, commune in the Eure Departments of France, department in Normandy (administrative region), Normandy in north-western France. Louviers is from Paris and from Rouen. Population History Prehistory In th ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marion, Pierre 1921 births 2010 deaths Directors of the Directorate-General for External Security École Polytechnique alumni