François-Henry Laperrine


François-Henry Laperrine was a French general who served during World War I.

Biography

Laperrine entered the École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr in October 1878 and became a captain in the 2nd Dragoons in November 1891. Laperrine organized the Compagnie Méharistes Sahariennes in 1897. He was a friend of Charles de Foucauld who was killed in 1916 in Tamanrasset. The two were honored on a stamp of Algeria in 1950: List of people on stamps of Algeria.
Laperrine died after a plane crash in the Sahara in 1920. His companions, Lieutenant Bernard and mechanic Marcel Vasselin survived and recorded Le Peerrine's last words, "People think they know the desert...People think I know it. Nobody really knows it. I have crossed the Sahara ten times and I will stay here." Bernard and Vasselin buried Laperrine near the plane, but when a rescue party arrived he was disinterred and buried in Tamanrasset next to Foucauld. The fort was named for Laperrine.

Honors