Rofolphe Coigney; French War Hero, WHO Official
Dr. Rofolphe Coigney, 89, a hero of the French Resistance during World War II who became an official of the World Health Organization, died June 6 in New York City.
Born in Paris, Coigney studied medicine and served in the French medical corps. For his bravery during a German attack on a French troop train, he was awarded the Croix de Guerre in 1940.
He stayed in Paris during the German occupation as a practicing physician. He worked for the Resistance by issuing travel passes using official Nazi stamps and forms that he had stolen. Coigney finally fled France before being uncovered by the Gestapo.
After arriving in London, he became chief medical officer at Charles de Gaulle’s Free French Liaison Mission to the Supreme Allied Headquarters.
He was appointed to head the World Health Organization office in New York in 1952, a post he held until his retirement in 1972.
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