Bonneau, Gabriel

• Bonneau, Gabriel (Lucien)

Gabriel (Lucien) Bonneau (1904-1988) In February 1943, Commandant Gabriel Bonneau official took up his position as the representative in
Canada of Charles de Gaulle’s Free French (later Fighting French) resistance movement. He served in that position until January 1945 when he returned to France. Working in very delicate political circumstances, Bonneau proved himself to be an able diplomat. He was instrumental in uniting the Free French committees in Canada and in winning the support of both the Canadian government and the Canadian people for the Gaullist movement and, later, for the new French provisional government. After his return to France, Bonneau had a distinguished diplomatic career, serving first as Director for Middle- East affairs and then as French ambassador to Mexico, Sweden, Uruguay, and Switzerland. Commandant Bonneau did not have the typical background for a diplomat of the period. Born in 1904 into a modest provincial French family, Bonneau had—-as his son Michel has testified—-a difficult childhood. He took refuge in his studies and through his own efforts and determination became a schoolteacher in a suburb of Paris. Later he taught in Turkey and Persia. He became so fascinated with the Middle East that
he returned to Paris and graduated from the prestigious Ecole des Langues Orientales. He joined the French diplomatic service and was posted as a translator to Tabriz and later to Teheran. In 1934 he was appointed as attaché to the French Legation in Kabul, Afghanistan. Bonneau, his wife, and young family were still in Kabul when France fell to the German armies in June of 1940. When he heard from a British colleague on June 18, 1940 that there was a French general in London who wanted to continue the fight, Bonneau immediately sent a telegram to de Gaulle volunteering his services. However, he had to wait until a diplomat was appointed to replace him in Kabul before he could travel to the Middle East to join the Free French forces. He served as a lieutenant in the Free French unit fighting the Italians in Eritrea. He joined the diplomatic service of the Free French movement in May 1942. Meanwhile, in April 1941, his wife, Sylvie, brought their two sons to safety in Vancouver. Madame Bonneau, a former ballerina, built a successful career in Vancouver as a teacher of dance, specializing in training ballet students in the Cecchetti method. She and the children joined her husband in Ottawa in late April 1943. Together Commandant and Madame Bonneau not only convinced politicians and government officials in Ottawa of the importance of the Gaullist cause but they travelled across Canada, gaining the support of Canadians from Halifax to Vancouver. With her warmth and experience, Sylvie Bonneau contributed greatly to the success of the Gaullist cause in Canada. NOTE: The archives of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the archives of the Institut Charles de Gaulle in Paris are the primary source for the career of Gabriel Bonneau.

Written by Professor Patricia Prestwich Professor Emeritus University of Alberta

RAD

April 24, 2025 (Creation)