François de Menthon

He studied law in Dijon, where he joined Action catholique de la Jeunesse française (ACJF).

He was president of ACJF from 1927 to 1930, and was also the founder of the Jeunesse ouvrière chrétienne (JOC, a Christian working youth movement).

He spent three months in a hospital in Saint-Dié, but escaped and joined the French Resistance in Haute Savoie in September 1940.

Menthon received Jean Moulin several times at his family's seat at the Château de Menthon-Saint-Bernard.

He was a leader in the Combat Resistance movement, created by the merger of Liberté with Henri Frenay's Mouvement de Libération Nationale towards the end of 1941.

He led the Commission d'Épuration to root out collaborators, and oversaw the trials of Marshal Philippe Pétain and other members of the Vichy regime.