Robert Deloche

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Robert Deloche (20 November 1909 – 12 May 1988) was a French furrier, trade unionist, militant communist, member of the French Resistance and mayor of Joinville-le-Pont.

He was born in Lyon and started as a furrier. In 1928 he worked as a library clerk for the Communist daily l'Humanité and, in 1929, joined the Communist Party’s propaganda department. He did his military service from 1929 to 1932 with the Spahis. After leaving the army, he lived in Saint-Maur-des-Fossés, founded the Committee of Unemployed of Champigny-sur-Marne, and returned to furrier work, losing his job after participating in a strike.

In 1933 he was elected assistant treasurer of the Union of Garment Furriers of the Seine and joined anti-war groups in the 1930s. In 1935 he moved to Joinville-le-Pont and was elected to the municipal council as a Communist. He befriended Albert Ouzoulias. He ran for parliament in 1936 but stepped aside for a Socialist candidate. He held various roles for the Communist Party, including work on colonial affairs and, in 1937, involvement with the Algerian Communist Party. He wrote reports on Algeria for the party and supported purging Trotskyist agitators.

With the start of World War II, Deloche was mobilized in 1939. In 1940 he was dismissed from his council post for Communist ties and moved to England, returning to France clandestinely later. He was arrested in 1941 and interned, escaping in 1942 to go underground. In 1942 he helped plan resistance activities and, during the Liberation, led the FTP in Paris’s eastern region. In autumn 1944 he became chairman of the special delegation of Joinville-le-Pont and acting mayor.

In 1945 he was elected Municipal Councillor of Joinville-le-Pont and, on 26 October 1945, elected mayor. He also became a General Councillor of the Seine for the canton including Saint-Maur-des-Fossés. As mayor, he oversaw the construction of the Joinville-le-Pont stadium, supported the local film industry, created a municipal health center in 1949 and developed two vacation centers. He resigned as mayor in November 1951 for health reasons and was dismissed from the Communist Party in 1952.

Deloche then moved to Algeria and, in 1962, joined the cabinet of the Minister of Agriculture in the first government of independent Algeria. He stayed there until 1971, then retired to the south of France. Robert Deloche died in Antibes on 12 May 1988.