MITTERAND FRANCOIS: (1916-1996) President of France 1981-1995. A good and early T.L.S., `F. Mitterand´, one page, 4to, Paris, 11th September 1947, on the Ministry of `Anciens Combattants et Victimes de Guerre´ printed stationery, to general Giraud, in French. Mitterand, in his capacity as Minister of Veterans and War Victims, a young Minister aged only 30, and referring to the visit of the American Legion representatives to France, states in part `A l´occasion de la venue en France de l´American Legion, je présiderai un banquet offert en son honneur, par le gouvernement Français, à l´Hotel Lutetia, 43 boulevard Raspail…´ (`On the occasion of the arrival in France of the American Legion, I will preside a banquet offered in its honour, by the French government, at the Hotel Lutetia, 43 boulevard Raspail…´) Mitterand kindly asks General Giraud to attend the event, saying `…cette réunion dont le but est de contribuer à resserrer l´amitié existant entre les Etats-Unis d´Amérique et la France´ (`…this meeting which purpose is to help strengthen the existing friendship between the United States of America and France´) VG

 

Henri Honoré Giraud (1879-1949) French General and leader of the Free French Forces during WWII. Giraud was captured by the Germans in 1940 but managed to escape from captivity two years later. Giraud co-presided with General de Gaulle the French Committee of National Liberation.