Léonce Vieljeux

Léonce Vieljeux (12 April 1865, Les Vans, Ardèche, France – 12 September 1944, Struthof) was a colonel in the French reserve army, industrialist and mayor of La Rochelle.

Gaining a diploma from the École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr in 1888, he was attached to the 123e régiment d’infanterie at La Rochelle, where he married Hélène Delmas, daughter of the famous arms manufacturer from that town.

He left the army to enter his father-in-law's family business "Delmas Frères", becoming its president, changing its name to "Compagnie Delmas-Vieljeux", and making it one of France's most important shipping companies.

At the same time, he helped engineers and workers from his factory who belonged to the ALLIANCE Resistance network to find means of escape.

[3] His funeral service took place in the Protestant church in La Rochelle in the presence of 3,000 townspeople of all denominations and social classes.