Léonce Bajart

Léonce Bajart (21 April 1888 – 27 March 1983) was a French sportsman, writer, resistance fighter, and one of the most notable citizens of Caudry.

Notable citizen of Caudry Léonce Bajart was born in Maubray, Belgium, on 21 April 1888, but moved to Caudry as a young boy, and in 1903, the 15-year-old Bajart founded the Star Club de Caudry, the first multi-sport society in the region. In the early 1920s, he promoted and presided over the organizing committee of the infamous lace festivals of Caudry, which is known as the capital of French lace. Within the OCM, led by Gaston Dassonville, he assisted in sheltering and transporting Allied airmen who had been shot down, organized fairs to support prisoners of war, gathered and transmitted military intelligence, and helped those who refused to comply with forced labor requirements.

Death and legacy For all of his noble efforts throughout his life, Bajart was made a knight of the Legion of Honour in 1937, the highest French order of merit, and later he was awarded the Ordre des Palmes académiques in 1959.

Work L'industrie des tulles et dentelles en France : son établissement dans le Cambrésis, l'essor de Caudry (1953)