Paul Rivière

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Paul Rivière (22 November 1912 – 15 December 1998) was a French Resistance fighter and later a politician. He was born in Montagny, Loire, France. In 1939 he trained as an instructor for Cadets de Saumur and was injured in fighting at Pont de Gennes, then returned to teaching literature in Lyon.

In 1941 a Jesuit in Lyon connected him with resistance leaders, and Rivière joined the French Resistance. In 1942 he became a liaison officer for Jean Moulin, the leader of the internal Resistance. After a first airdrop, he was arrested by Vichy police for four months. Released, he continued his work secretly until the war ended.

With the Mouvements unis de la Résistance (MUR) he helped organize radio transmitters and covert air operations for Southern France. After Jean Moulin’s arrest, he reorganized the Landing-Airdrop Section (SAP) and led operations in the Rhône-Alpes region, coordinating major covert landings and movements of weapons, funds and people between France and London.

In 1947 he joined the military, reaching the rank of lieutenant-colonel. He served as Inspector General of the French Armed Forces and, abroad, in Indochina (1953), Germany (1955) and Algeria (1956). He was Military Attache in Tokyo (1956–1959) and a security adviser in Algeria until the Evian Accords.

From 1962 to 1978 he was a deputy in the National Assembly for the Loire department. He also served as mayor of Montagny until 1983 and sat on the Council of Europe. He died on 15 December 1998 in Lyon and was buried in Montagny.