Marcel Deviq

Armand-Marcel Deviq (10 April 1907 – 17 June 1972) was a French Algerian engineer, businessman, and politician who served in the National Assembly of France from 1958 until 1962. A member of the party, he represented a large portion of southeastern Algeria. Deviq and his family were the owners of the Compagnie Saharienne Automobile, which provided commercial transportation services across the Sahara Desert.

Biography Early life and business career Armand-Marcel Deviq was born on 10 April 1907 in Batna, a city in French Algeria. Deviq was a Pied-Noir, an ethnic French person who lived in Algeria. His grandfather, a vintner from the French region of Cévennes, moved to Algeria in 1878 after his crops were ruined by insects. Settling in Batna, he founded a transportation company which provided commercial transit services to surrounding towns using horse-drawn carriages. Deviq's father Armand took over the company in 1907 and began establishing routes further into central Algeria, connecting the desert cities of Touggourt and El Oued. The company acquired its first truck, a 2.5 T Renault, in 1925, and a connection between Touggourt and Ouargla was established the following year. In 1947, Deviq also became a member of the Société astronomique de France.

Political career, later life, and death In the 1958 French legislative election, Deviq was elected to the National Assembly, representing the which consisted of a large portion of southeastern Algeria as a member of the party. Deviq was a staunch supporter of a continued union between France and Algeria, favored "a modernization that respects traditions", and advocated for the Sahara region to be better integrated into the country. In his role as vice president of the parliamentary Commission for Production and Trade, Deviq was involved in establishing France's financial policy for the Sahara; among his proposals was the establishment of a Saharan bank.

Following Algerian independence, Deviq attempted to stay in the country to continue operating his business, which he had become the sole owner of following René's death in an accident in 1960. However, after receiving several threats against his life, Deviq fled to France in 1963. The Compagnie Saharienne Automobile was seized by the Algerian government and was renamed the Compagnie Socialiste Automobile; under the leadership of incompetent and corrupt bureaucrats, the company dissolved after only a few years. Deviq became a leader among the Algerian exile community in France, aiding Edmond Jouhaud in the National Committee of the Repatriated and Despoiled, and working in the Rahla, an association of exiles from the Sahara. Deviq died on 17 June 1972 in Paris at the age of 65.