Andre Jarrot; Member of French Resistance, Government Minister

Andre Jarrot, 90, a hero of the French Resistance during World War II. He was a motorcycle-racing champion before the war and a garage mechanic and local politician after it, and France’s first minister for the quality of life. Born in Lux, Jarrot left school to work in his early teens. He devoted his free time to motorcycle riding, becoming French national champion in the 500-cubic-centimeter category in 1937 and co-holder of the world 24-hour endurance title in 1938. Mobilized in the French military in 1939, he was captured by German troops in June 1940. Jarrot escaped and became involved in some of the first clandestine arms drops to the Resistance by British forces. After training in Britain as a secret agent, Jarrot parachuted into occupied France on several occasions to conduct sabotage missions against Nazi occupiers. Awarding him the Cross of the Liberation, Gen. Charles de Gaulle wrote that Jarrot’s actions “seriously harmed German industries on French soil.” Jarrot was also decorated by Britain, Belgium and the United States. After the war, he ran an automotive garage and was regional head in Burgundy for the Rally of the French People, a pro-DeGaulle movement. He was a member of the European Parliament from 1962 to 1974, France’s minister for the quality of life from 1974 to 1976 and a senator from 1986 to 1995. As minister of quality of life, Jarrot was often outspoken. Determined to work for more joy in the lives of his countrymen, he once said that pollution “is in the mind as well as in the air and water. You can sometimes see it if you look into certain people’s eyes.” He wasn’t in favor of too much joy, however, once saying that Corsican officials “did not have a bad idea” when they daubed nude sunbathers with blue paint. On Friday in Burgundy.