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Jean Moulin

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The Resume

    (June 20, 1899-July 8, 1943)
    Born in Beziers, France
    French civil servant
    Was youngest sub-prefect (1925) and prefect (1937) in France
    Joined the French Resistance during World War II
    Asked by Charles de Gaulle to unify the different Resistance groups (October 24, 1941)
    Organized the National Council of the Resistance
    Arrested by the Gestapo (June 21, 1943)
    Died at a train station in Metz, France, while being transferred to Germany

Why he might be annoying:

    His marriage broke up in two years, largely because his mother-in-law accused him of marrying her daughter for her inheritance.
    It is uncertain if he died from injuries suffered while being tortured by the Gestapo or if he committed suicide.
    He was not well known in much of France until de Gaulle had his remains transferred to the Pantheon (a former church that serves as the resting place for heroes of the French Republic) amid elaborate spectacle (December 19, 1964).
    The ceremony may have essentially been a political stunt to remind voters of de Gaulle’s role in the liberation of France before he ran for re-election.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He was arrested when he refused to sign a document falsely blaming Senegalese troops in the French Army for a massacre of civilians (June 17, 1940).
    When he became convinced he would give in under continued pressure, he slit his throat with a shard of glass. (He was hospitalized and recovered.)
    He was fired by the Vichy French government for refusing an order to dismiss all left wing mayors in his prefecture (November, 1940).
    He refused to reveal the names of any Resistance members despite brutal tortures.
    At one point, interrogator Klaus Barbie, thinking he had broken, handed him a sheet of paper and told him to write down the names of the key Resistance leaders. Instead, he drew a caricature of Barbie.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 6 Votes: 16.67% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 11 Votes: 72.73% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 3 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 13 Votes: 15.38% Annoying