Pierre de Chevigné


Pierre Gabriel Adhéaume de Chevigné was a French politician, who was the Minister of Defence in the Fourth Republic between 14 May and 1 June 1958. His grandson Henri de Castries serves as chairman of the Bilderberg Group's steering committee.

Early life

The Comte de Chevigné was born on 16 June 1909 in Toulon on the French Riviera. He was a son of François Henri Marie Joseph Auguste de Chevigné and the former Gisèle Colas.

Career

Chevigné was a Colonel in the Free French Forces. A member of the Popular Republican Movement party, briefly served as the Minister of Defence in the Fourth Republic between 14 May and 1 June 1958 under Prime Minister Pierre Pflimlin. In 1954, he was wounded slightly by grenade fragments during a tour of the Indo-China fighting front while inspecting French troops that had landed in territory held by Communist Việt Minh rebels. Prime Minister Pflimlin served only briefly before the May 1958 crisis in France during the turmoil of the Algerian War of Independence which led to the collapse of the Fourth Republic and its replacement by the Fifth Republic led by Charles de Gaulle who returned to power after a twelve-year absence.
He traveled to New York City in 1952.

Personal life

He was married to Hélène Rodocanachi, a daughter of Petros Rodocanachis and the former Chariklia Salvagou. Together, they were the parents of:
After the death of his wife in 1939, he remarried to Anne d'Ormesson.
The Count de Chevigné died in Biarritz on 4 April 2004

Descendants

Through his daughter Gisèle, he was a grandfather of Henri de La Croix de Castries.