Henri Rol-Tanguy
Henri Rol-Tanguy
Communist Resistance leader who directed the Paris uprising
On 21 August 1944, he ordered posters put up across Paris calling for barricades.
Henri Rol-Tanguy was a French communist metalworker and veteran of the International Brigades whose military experience shaped his work in the anti-Nazi Resistance. As commander of the Paris-area French Forces of the Interior in August 1944, he organized and directed the uprising before the Allied entry. His importance lies in combining labour-movement organization with armed resistance to drive the capital’s liberation from within. After the war he remained active in the army and the French Communist Party, publicly defending the Resistance’s independent role.
Career timeline
- 1925Metalworker at Talbot; joined the Young Communists
- 1936Secretary of the Paris-region metalworkers’ CGT
- 1937–1938Political commissar in the International Brigades’ XIV Brigade; fought at the Ebro
- 1941–1942Organizer of armed groups in Paris; part of the FTP’s founding leadership
- 1943Reorganized the Paris FTP and joined the regional FFI staff
- 1944Commander of the Paris-area FFI; directed the Paris uprising
- 1945–1962Lieutenant-colonel in the French Army; held postwar military assignments
- 1962–1987Member of the French Communist Party Central Committee