René Bondoux

René Bondoux’s fencing career highlights came at the Olympics, winning a silver and gold medal. He never won a world title, but gained a team silver in 1935, as well as various French titles. He was captured by the Germans in 1940, but managed to escape to North Africa and fight with the Free French Forces. He commanded an armoured division at the invasion of South France in August 1944, and as an aide to General De Lattre de Tassigny, he witnessed the signing of the armistice on 8 May 1945. Following the war, he worked as a lawyer and was elected bâtonnier, head of the Parisian bar association, in 1963. He was made Grand Officier in the Legion of Honour in 1995 and was also decorated with a Croix de Guerre.