Louis Delamare
Louis Delamare | |
|---|---|
| Ambassador of France to Lebanon | |
| In office August 1979 – September 4, 1981 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | November 12, 1921 Trouville-sur-Mer |
| Died | September 4, 1981 (age 59) West Beirut, Lebanon |
Louis Delamare (November 4, 1921 – September 4, 1981) was a French politician and diplomat. He was ambassador of France to Benin from 1969 to 1972 and to Lebanon from 1979 until his murder on September 4, 1981.
Early life[edit]
Louis Delamare was born on November 12, 1921, in the commune of Trouville-sur-Mer, Normandy. He studied at the École nationale d'administration.
Career[edit]
Delamare worked in various positions within the administration of the Ministry of foreign affairs from 1961 to 1963 and then as technical advisor to the office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1966 until 1967. He was appointed director of the cabinet of the Minister of Information in April 1967 and was member of the board of directors of the Office de Radiodiffusion Télévision Française (ORTF). In 1969 he was appointed French ambassador to Benin until 1972.[1]
Murder[edit]
In August 1979, he was appointed French ambassador to Lebanon and resided in Beirut at the time of the Lebanese Civil War. He was murdered in a possible kidnapping attempt on September 4, 1981, after being stopped at a roadblock in his Peugeot 604 on the road leading to his residence in the leftist-controlled West Beirut.[2] Three gunmen tried to get the Delamare out of his Peugeot 604 sedan. As he refused to unlock the doors, the gunmen opened fire through the right rear window and escaped in a BMW.[3] He sustained six bullet wounds in the head and abdomen and died in the Barbir Hospital one hour into his operation.[4]
The assassination took place in the Lebanese capital under the eyes of Syrian soldiers, who did not intervene and let the killers leave on motorcycles. They were quickly identified as members of the Red Knights militia, an Alawite-led militia set up by Rifaat el-Assad, the influential brother of the Syrian president, to intervene in Lebanon.[5] The French external intelligence agency, DGSE, notes conclude that Syria sponsored the attack with the aim of punishing France for its diplomatic efforts aimed at peacefully resolving the Lebanese civil war.[6] These killings occurred amid a wave of pro-Syrian and Syrian assaults against France in Lebanon.
Delamare's body was transferred to France the next day and is now buried in Tourgéville.[7]
Personal life[edit]
Delamare was married and had 4 children. His wife Françoise died in 2005.[8]
References[edit]
- ^ "Mr Delamare, French ambassador, is killed in an attack in West Beirut", Le Monde, September 5, 1981.
- ^ "Car Bomb in Beirut Kills 11, Injures 25 At French Embassy". Washington Post. December 25, 2023. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved March 7, 2024.
- ^ "French Ambassador Louis Delamare was shot and killed today... – UPI Archives". UPI. Retrieved March 7, 2024.
- ^ https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1981/09/05/french-ambassador-slain-in-midday-beirut/a5850c82-aea9-460f-82f0-d7068008d7ca/
- ^ "Rifaat founded the Red Knights in northern Lebanon in the early 1970s and they were eventually instrumental in helping Yasser Arafat to slip by sea to Tripoli in 1983..."Naharnet
- ^ "Ambassadors killed in the line of duty". The Daily Star. December 21, 2016. Retrieved March 7, 2024.
- ^ "LEBANON: BODY OF ASSASSINATED FRENCH AMBASSADOR LEAVES BEIRUT FOR FRANCE". British Pathé. Retrieved March 7, 2024.
- ^ "French Ambassador Louis Delamare was shot and killed today... – UPI Archives". UPI. Retrieved March 7, 2024.
- 20th-century French diplomats
- Ambassadors of France to Lebanon
- École nationale d'administration alumni
- 1921 births
- Deaths by firearm in Lebanon
- Assassinated French people
- People murdered in Lebanon
- 1981 murders in Asia
- 1981 deaths
- Murder in Beirut
- 1980s crimes in Beirut
- Assassinations in Lebanon
- People of the Lebanese Civil War
- French people murdered abroad