Marie Émile Fayolle (14 May 1852 – 27 August 1928) was a French general during World War I and a diplomat, elevated to the dignity of Marshal of France.

He is the first of six children born from the marriage of Jean Pierre Auguste Fayolle, lacemaker in Le Puy, and his wife Marie Rosine Badiou.

With the outbreak of the First World War, Fayolle was recalled from retirement by the French Commander-in-Chief Joseph Joffre and given command of the 70th Infantry Division.

[3] During the offensive, Fayolle is credited with successfully using a combination of artillery resources and infantry tactics to push the less well-defended Germans back across an 8-mile (12.87 km) long segment of his front.

Foch appointed Fayolle, one of the most successful army commanders of July, to fight alongside the British forces between their right flank and the north bank of the River Somme.

Fayolle stayed in Italy until March 1918, when he was recalled to France and put at the head of the 55 division-strong Army Group Reserve, with which he played a role in stopping the last significant German offensives.

He commanded occupation forces in the Palatinat and Rheinhessen, occupying Mainz and the left bank of the Rhine with Charles Mangin, from 14 December 1918.

[1] He was charged with leading a mission of gratitude to Canada for the country's aid during the war and presented the Canadian government with a bronze bust called La France, made by the sculptor Auguste Rodin.

[citation needed] During the War, Émile Fayolle had kept a diary, published by Plon in 1964 under the title Cahiers secrets de la Grande Guerre and republished digitally in December 2013; it provides deep insight into French strategic thinking at the time.