Louis Renault, French engineer and businessman, co-founded the Renault Company (b. 1877)
Louis Renault (French: [lwi ʁəno]; 12 February 1877 – 24 October 1944) was a French industrialist, one of the founders of Renault, and a pioneer of the automobile industry.
Renault built one of France's largest automobile manufacturing concerns, which still bears his name. During World War I his factories contributed massively to the war effort, notably so by the creation and manufacture of the first tank of modern configuration, the Renault FT tank.
Accused of collaborating with the Germans during World War II, he died while awaiting trial in liberated France toward the end of 1944 under uncertain circumstances. His company was seized and nationalized by the provisional government of France although he died before he could be tried. His factories were the only ones permanently expropriated by the French government.In 1956, Time magazine described Renault as "rich, powerful and famous, cantankerous, brilliant, often brutal, the little Napoleon of an automaking empire — vulgar, loud, domineering, impatient, he was a terror to associates, a friend to practically none," adding that to the French working man, Renault became known as "the ogre of Billancourt."
1944Oct, 24
Louis Renault (industrialist)
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Events on 1944
- 10Apr
Auschwitz concentration camp
Rudolf Vrba and Alfréd Wetzler escape from Birkenau death camp. - 13Apr
Soviet Union
Diplomatic relations between New Zealand and the Soviet Union are established. - 26Jun
RAF
World War II: San Marino, a neutral state, is mistakenly bombed by the RAF based on faulty information, leading to 35 civilian deaths. - 26Aug
Charles de Gaulle
World War II: Charles de Gaulle enters Paris. - 31Dec
Nazi Germany
World War II: Hungary declares war on Nazi Germany.