André Beaufre

Who was André Beaufre?

André Beaufre was a French general. Beaufre ended World War II with the rank of colonel. Well known by the Anglo-Saxon world as a military strategist and as an exponent of an independent French nuclear force. In 1921 Beaufre entered the military academy at École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr, where he met the future French president Charles de Gaulle, who was an instructor. In 1925 he saw action in Morocco against the Rif, who opposed French rule. Beaufre then studied at the École Supérieure de Guerre and at the École Libre des Sciences Politiques and was subsequently assigned to the French army's general staff.

Beaufre also commanded the French forces in the 1956 Suez War campaign against Egypt in 1956.

Beaufre later became chief of the general staff of the Supreme Headquarters, Allied Powers in Europe in 1958. He was serving as chief French representative to the permanent group of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation in Washington in 1960 when he was named général d'armée. He retired for health reasons a year later.

He died in 1975 whilst engaged in a series of lectures in Yugoslavia.