Valerie André

Valérie André (; 21 April 1922 – 21 January 2025) was a French resistance official, neurosurgeon and aviator. She was the first female member of the military to achieve the rank of General Officer, in 1976. She was also a founding member of the Académie de l'air et de l'espace.

As a member of the military, she was not addressed as "Madame la Générale" (a term reserved for spouses of generals) but as "General".

She wrote two collections of memoirs : Ici, Ventilateur! Extraits d'un carnet de vol. (Calmann-Lévy, 1954) and Madame le général (Perrin, 1988).

André is one of eight women to hold the Grand-croix (Great Cross) rank in the Legion of Honour, with Germaine Tillion, Geneviève de Gaulle-Anthonioz, Jacqueline de Romilly, Simone Rozès, Christiane Desroches Noblecourt, Yvette Farnoux and Gilberte Champion.

André died of natural causes on 21 January 2025 in Issy-les-Moulineaux, France at the age of 102.Valérie André, première Française générale, est décédée à 102 ans 

Foreign honors
 Legion of Merit (United States)
 National Order of Vietnam
 Cross of Valour (Canada)

References

Category:1922 births
Category:2025 deaths
Category:French writers
Category:French generals
Category:French aviators
Category:French surgeons
Category:Neurosurgeons