Adolphe Guillaumat

Marie Louis Adolphe Guillaumat ( , ; 4 January 1863 – 18 May 1940) was a French Army general during World War I.

Early years Adolphe Guillaumat was born in Bourgneuf, Charente-Maritime. He graduated first from his class of 1884 at the Saint-Cyr military academy.

Career His early career was partly spent in the French Colonies (Algeria, Tunisia, Tonkin, China). He was appointed a sub-lieutenant of infantry in October 1884. Four years later he was promoted lieutenant. In November 1893 he became a captain and was transferred to the 147th infantry regiment. In 1903 he was appointed professor of military history at St. Cyr, and later became lecturer on infantry tactics at the École de Guerre. He was promoted lieutenant-colonel in 1907 and colonel in 1910. In January 1913, he was appointed director of infantry, and obtained the rank of brigadier general in October of that year.

World War I

At the start of World War I, he was chief of Minister of War Adolphe Messimy's military cabinet. When the latter left office, Guillaumat was appointed as the head of the 33rd Infantry Division on 30 August 1914, and then of the 4th Infantry Division on 9 December 1914.

Political career

He was a minister of war in a short-lived (June–July 1926) government led by Aristide Briand, who had been one year his senior at the Nantes Lycée.

Personal life Adolphe Guillaumat married Louise Bibent from Toulouse on 17 July 1906 and had two sons: Louis, who became an ophthalmologist, and Pierre, who became a civil servant and served as a minister of the armies of General De Gaulle after the latter's return to power from 1 June 1958 to 5 February 1960.

General Guillaumat was a practising Catholic and an admirer of Frédéric Bastiat.