Georges-Marie Haardt

Georges-Marie Haardt
Georges-Marie Haardt wearing a suit with his arms crossed
Haardt c. 1925 – c. 1930
Born(1884-07-12)July 12, 1884
Naples, Kingdom of Italy
DiedMarch 16, 1932(1932-03-16) (aged 47)
British Hong Kong
Resting place
Passy Cemetery
Occupations
  • Engineer
  • explorer
  • industrialist
Signature
Bernard Boutet de Monvel, Portrait of Georges-Marie Haardt, 1925.

Georges-Marie Haardt (12 July 1884 - 16 March 1932) was an engineer, explorer and industrialist, working in Automobiles Citroën for its first twenty years. He was also a close friend of André Citroën.

Life

His tomb.

He was born to Belgian parents in Naples. He first joined the Citroën firm as a sales manager, before becoming its director general from 1905 to 1923. He was also vice-president of the Société anonyme André Citroën and director general of Mors from 1908 to 1914. He was a member of the Automobile Club de France.

He served in France's tank corps in the First World War and was made a Knight of the Legion of Honour in 1923, rising to Officer in 1925 and Commander in 1932. In 1929 he was naturalised as a French citizen.[1] Little is known of his private life besides the fact that he was married, was a Protestant, and lived in an apartment on rue de Rivoli in Paris. An apartment which in 1927 he had decorated in an Art Déco style by Jacques-Émile Ruhlmann.

The apartment also acted as a showcase for portraits by Alexandre Jacovleff, who went on the Black Expedition and Yellow Expedition, both led by Haardt. Haardt's motto, inscribed on the side of his command vehicles on those expeditions, was "Res, non verba"  (deeds not words). Before the Black and Yellow Expeditions he also led the first motorised crossing of the Sahara. Flu complicated by double pneumonia contracted on the return journey on the Yellow Expedition led to his death on March 16, 1932. He was buried in the 12th division of the cimetière de Passy.[2]

Recognition

Plaque set up by the residents' association at Cap Bénat, identified as the closest point in southern France to north Africa.

In January 2015 the 2016 class at the ENSTA Bretagne was named after Haardt by its sponsor Yann Vincent, industrial and supply chain director of PSA Peugeot Citroën.[3]

References (in French)

  1. ↑ Decree of 20 June 1929 (J.O. of 30 June 1929, p. 7322).
  2. ↑ Georges-Marie Haardt, 12e division
  3. ↑ "Baptême de la Promotion 2016". www.ensta-bretagne.fr. Retrieved 17 January 2015.

Bibliography (in French)


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