Pierre Pouyade

Pouyade, Pierre 

Born July 25, 1911, in Cerisiers, Yonne Department. French public and military figure.

A graduate of the military school at St Cyr l’Ecole, Pouyade became an officer in the French Air Force in 1933. During World War II, from 1943 to 1945 he was first a squadron leader and then commander of the Normandy-Neman Air Regiment, which fought against fascist Germany as part of the Soviet First Air Army. After the war he became an inspector of fighter aircraft and served as a military attache at the French Embassy in Argentina. He was made a brigadier general in 1955. In 1958 he entered the reserves.

Pouyade was a member of the National Assembly from 1966 to 1973. From 1967 to 1973 he headed a group in the National Assembly that promoted Franco-Soviet friendship and the development of parliamentary ties between the two countries. He is a prominent member of the France-USSR Association.

In 1977, Pouyade received the International Lenin Prize for Strengthening Peace Among Nations. Pouyade has been awarded two Orders of the Red Banner and the Order of Alexander Nevsky.