Charles de Gaulle

1890 – 1970 · died at about 80^[1][2]

Politics & Leadership

Fun Facts About Charles de Gaulle

• Charles de Gaulle made five failed escape attempts as a World War I prisoner, including hiding in a laundry basket and posing as a nurse.^[1]
• De Gaulle was nicknamed the great asparagus because of his height of 196 cm (6 ft 5 in), his high forehead, and his nose.^[1]
• Frustrated by France's endless political divisions, de Gaulle famously asked how anyone could govern a country with 246 varieties of cheese.^[1]
• In the 1920s de Gaulle worked for Philippe Pétain largely as a ghostwriter.^[1]
• Pétain's Vichy regime condemned de Gaulle to death in absentia in 1940; after the war, de Gaulle commuted Pétain's own death sentence to life imprisonment.^[1]
• Winston Churchill offered de Gaulle BBC airtime for his Appeal of 18 June, but few people listened to the famous speech.^[1][3][4]
• Charles de Gaulle was alive at the same time as Jimmy Wales — their lives overlapped for 4 years (1966–1970).^[1][2][5][6]
• Charles de Gaulle shares a birthday with Billie Jean King: both were born on November 22.^[1][2][7][8]

Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces against Nazi Germany and Vichy France in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Republic from 1944 to 1946 to restore democracy in France. Following the Algiers putsch, he came out of retirement at the request of President René Coty, who appointed him Prime Minister. He commissioned a new constitution which was approved by voters in a referendum, establishing the Fifth Republic. He was subsequently elected President of France later that year, a position he held until his resignation in 1969. He is widely regarded as the greatest Frenchman of the 20th century.^[1]

Contemporaries

Pablo Picasso

80 yr overlap

Igor Stravinsky

80 yr overlap

Coco Chanel

80 yr overlap

Georgia O'Keeffe

80 yr overlap

Charlie Chaplin

80 yr overlap

Agatha Christie

80 yr overlap

Chiang Kai-shek

80 yr overlap

Harry S. Truman

80 yr overlap

Bertrand Russell

80 yr overlap

Ho Chi Minh

79 yr overlap

Dwight D. Eisenhower

79 yr overlap

Haile Selassie

78 yr overlap

Their World

Questions About Charles de Gaulle

When was Charles de Gaulle born?

Charles de Gaulle was born on November 22, 1890, and died on November 9, 1970.

How old was Charles de Gaulle at death?

Charles de Gaulle was born on November 22, 1890, and died on November 9, 1970, at age 79.

What was Charles de Gaulle known for?

Charles de Gaulle was known for: Leader of Free France, French President. Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces against Nazi Germany and Vichy France in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Republic from 1944 to 1946 to restore democracy in France. Following the Algiers putsch, he came out of retirement at the request of President René Coty, who appointed him Prime Minister. He commissioned a new constitution which was approved by voters in a referendum, establishing the Fifth Republic. He was subsequently elected President of France later that year, a position he held until his resignation in 1969. He is widely regarded as the greatest Frenchman of the 20th century.

Who was alive at the same time as Charles de Gaulle?

Charles de Gaulle's closest contemporary was Pablo Picasso. Their lives overlapped for 80 years.