Jean Giraudoux Sous-lieutenant,
176th Régiment d’Infanterie 1882-1944
Jean Giraudoux was born in Bellac, Haut Vienne, France. He was a successful student and won a bursary to Harvard University. He began a career in the French diplomatic service before WW1.
His regiment arrived in Gallipoli in May 1915. He was in the French reserve trenches on the 4th June 1915 but back in the front line a few days later; he was wounded, but refused to leave leave his post until wounded again several hours later. He won the Légion d’Honneur for courage and published a personal account Carnet de Dardanelles.
After the war, he continued his career in the diplomatic service while writing prolifically. He used allegorical situations to convey feelings such as his passionate mistrust of the French politicians he felt were working against European reconciliation after the war. His plays won great fame and some were translated into English. They are now rarely produced.
At the beginning of World War 2, he was French High Commissioner for Information, but later virtually withdrew from public life as it became intolerable after the German invasion. He died after a short illness on the 31st January 1944.
