Roger Souchère (21 February 1899 – 2 July 1963) was a French architect who participated in the

French Resistance The French Resistance ( ) was a collection of groups that fought the German military administration in occupied France during World War II, Nazi occupation and the Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy#France, collaborationist Vic ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

(1939–45).

Life

Roger Georges Scipion Souchère was born on 21 February 1899 in

Courbevoie Courbevoie () is a Communes of France, commune located in the Hauts-de-Seine department of the Île-de-France region of France. It is a suburb of Paris, from the Kilometre zero, center of Paris. The centre of Courbevoie is situated from the ci ...

, Hauts-de-Seine. He attended 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 the

École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts École or Ecole 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 The Seine ( , ) is a river in nor ...

. He became and architect and an engineer of arts and manufactures. In 1936

Jacques Arthuys Jacques Arthuys (15 February 1894 – 9 September 1943) was a French industrialist, a right-wing intellectual and an early leader of the French Fascist movement. He was initially a Paneuropean Union, pan-European but became opposed to the Nazi mo ...

, the industrialist Pierre Lefaurichon and Roger Souchère launched the ''Mouvement des classes moyennes'' (Movement of the middle classes), based in Paris. Souchère was a member of the

Freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

s, but resigned from the "Center des Amis" No. 1 in 1937. On 15 April 1940, just before the

Fall of France The Battle of France (; 10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign (), the French Campaign (, ) and the Fall of France, during the Second World War was the German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembourg and the Net ...

, he asked to be reinstated in the Freemasons. During

(1939–45) Souchère joined the French Resistance, and was one of the co-founders of the

Organisation civile et militaire The ''Organisation civile et militaire'' (OCM, "Civil and military organization") was one of the great movements of the French Resistance in the '' zone occupée'', the German-occupied region of northern France, during the Second World War. The O ...

(OCM), a resistance group led by Jacques Arthuys and lieutenant-colonel Alfred Touny. The OCM was formed in the occupied zone at the end of 1940. Arthuys led the movement and was assisted by Souchère as Chief of Staff, Jean Mayer in charge of the first and third Bureaus, Touny for the 2nd Bureau, and Maxime Blocq-Mascart for Civil matters. Souchère became a captain in the 18th region of the

French Forces of the Interior The French Forces of the Interior (FFI; ) were French resistance fighters in the later stages of World War II. Charles de Gaulle used it as a formal name for the resistance fighters. The change in designation of these groups to FFI occurred as F ...

. He was arrested, and was deported from

Compiègne Compiègne (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Oise Departments of France, department of northern France. It is located on the river Oise (river), Oise, and its inhabitants are called ''Compiégnois'' (). Administration Compiègne is t ...

on 16 April 1943, reaching

Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp Mauthausen was a German Nazi concentration camp on a hill above the market town of Mauthausen, Upper Austria, Mauthausen (roughly east of Linz), Upper Austria. It was the main camp of a group with List of subcamps of Mauthausen, nearly 100 f ...

in Germany two days later. He was released on 24 April 1945, and repatriated to

Annecy Annecy ( , ; , also ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Haute-Savoie Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, regi ...

on 29 April 1945. After the war, Souchère was editor-in-chief of the journal ''Connaissance de l'homme'' (1954–56). In February 1957 he was a member of the committee of the ''Amicale de Mauthausen''. Roger Souchère died on 2 July 1963.

Publications

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Notes

Sources

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Souchere, Roger 1899 births 1963 deaths People from Courbevoie École des Beaux-Arts alumni 20th-century French architects French Resistance members Commanders of the Legion of Honour Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France) Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery