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Pierre Bertaux

1907 – 1986

French resistance fighter and scholar of German literature

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About Pierre Bertaux

Lived 1907 – 1986 (aged 78). Pierre Bertaux was a French politician, official, literary historian, resistance fighter, university teacher and military officer.

Pierre Bertaux (8 October 1907 in Lyon – 14 August 1986 in Saint-Cloud, Hauts-de-Seine) was a noted French resistance fighter and scholar of German literature. While holding administrative positions, he also wrote on Friedrich Hölderlin. He participated in the French resistance in Toulouse, where as a Commissioner of the Republic he imposed Charles de Gaulle's authority during the liberation of France. After the war he was a high-ranking police officer.

In 1968 he founded a Department of German Language and Literature at the New Sorbonne in Asnières. In 1970 he received the Goethe Medal, and in 1975 the Heinrich Heine prize of the city of Düsseldorf. He had three sons, two of whom have become renowned academics on their own right: Daniel Bertaux and Jean-Loup Bertaux.

Work French Hölderlin, Essai de biographie intérieure, Paris, Hachette, 1936 La mutation humaine, 1964 La libération de Toulouse et de sa région, éd. Hachette, 1973 Hölderlin ou le temps d'un poète, Paris, Gallimard, 1983 Mémoires interrompus par Pierre Bertaux, Hansgerd Schulte, Presses Sorbonne Nouvelle, 2000 Un normalien à Berlin, lettres 1927 1933

German Friedrich Hölderlin. Frankfurt/Main 1981 und 2000 Hölderlin und die Französische Revolution. Frankfurt/Main 1969, Berlin 1990 Afrika. Von der Vorgeschichte bis zu den Staaten der Gegenwart. Frankfurt/M. 1966 Mutation der Menschheit - Diagnosen und Prognosen. Frankfurt/M. 1963

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Important facts

Birth century
Nationality
Education
Lycée Janson-de-Sailly, École Normale Supérieure
Positions held
Senator of the French Fourth Republic, Prefect of Haute-Garonne, Prefect of Rhône
Awards
Officer of the Legion of Honour; Croix de guerre 1939–1945; Companion of the Liberation; Goethe Medal; Heinrich Heine Prize

People in Pierre Bertaux's life

Named in this biography and alive at the same time

Contemporaries

People whose lives overlapped Pierre Bertaux's

Frequently asked questions

Who was Pierre Bertaux?

French resistance fighter and scholar of German literature (1907–1986)

When was Pierre Bertaux born?

Pierre Bertaux was born on 8 October 1907 in 3rd arrondissement of Lyon.

When did Pierre Bertaux die?

Pierre Bertaux died on 14 September 1986 in Saint-Cloud.

What was Pierre Bertaux's occupation?

Pierre Bertaux was a politician, official, literary historian, resistance fighter, university teacher and military officer.

What nationality was Pierre Bertaux?

Pierre Bertaux was French.

Sources & further reading

· Wikipedia: Pierre Bertaux

· Wikidata: Q315073

· DBpedia: Pierre Bertaux

Cite this page

APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Pierre Bertaux. https://biography.guide/pierre-bertaux/

MLA: "Pierre Bertaux." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/pierre-bertaux/.

Chicago: "Pierre Bertaux." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/pierre-bertaux/.

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