NationStates Jolt Archive

France's last surviving veteran of World War One, Lazare Ponticelli, has died at the age of 110.

President Nicolas Sarkozy announced the death on Wednesday, paying tribute to the last "poilu", as French WWI veterans were known. [...]

Mr Ponticelli, originally Italian, had lied about his age in order to join the French Foreign Legion in August 1914. [...]

There are a handful of surviving WWI veterans from other countries, including British pilot Henry Allingham and Austro-Hungarian artillery man Franz Kunstler.

France's oldest surviving WWI veteran, Louis de Cazenave, died in January, also aged 110.

The last of Germany's veterans from the war died also died in January.

Mr Ponticelli was born on 7 December 1897 in Emilia Romagna, northern Italy.

He made his way, at the age of nine, to France to join his two brothers, and worked in Paris as a chimney sweep and paper boy.

Mr Sarkozy said there would be a national day of remembrance for France's war dead in the coming days as he marked Mr Ponticelli's death. [...]

Mr Ponticelli, who lived with his daughter in a southern suburb of Paris, had initially refused a government offer of a state funeral, the AFP news agency reported.

But he later decided to accept "in the name of all those who died, men and women", during WWI.


(link (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7292109.stm))

The French Wikipedia has a fairly detailed article about him (http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lazare_Ponticelli).

Ponticelli was the last French veteran, but there are still WW1 veterans in other countries (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surviving_veterans_of_World_War_I).

Wow, I didn't think they were still around, at all. Ha, next thing you know, they'll discover the last Civil War vet in the deep South! :p

Reste dans la paix, M. Lazare Ponticelli.

Trench foot is a likely cause of death I'd say :p

Mes respects, Lazare.

Last witnesses fade away...I just hope we never forget what happened.

Lest we forget.

Poor man. To be the last man of all your friends you could talk about such harrowing things to.

Here's the last US WW I vet...

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/03/07/war.veteran/

Au revoir.

While the last of the veterans serving the German Empire may have died, Germany still has one left (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_K%C3%BCnstler).

At least he won't be forgotten.

Paix à vous, M. Ponticelli. Et mes respects.

R.I.P War veteran, of the Great War may there never be another war as brutal and horrific as that one.

R.I.P War veteran, of the Great War may there never be another war as brutal and horrific as that one.
*Ahem* We ARE the human race. Feel free to take that statement either way.

Here's the last US WW I vet...

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/03/07/war.veteran/



I saw this man last week when he was honored by the President.

107 yrs old. Amazing.


Soon, we will be discussing WWII vets like this- they are passing away in high numbers every day.

Last spring I met a World War I vet in Washington...

...what they've seen...what they've been through...the entire past century.

To have been the last one alive, to have seen those horrors. My condolences to his family, and may he go to his well deserved eternal rest peacefully.

*Ahem* We ARE the human race. Feel free to take that statement either way.

Who says i'm human?
I might not be.
Are you?
I always wondered about that statement "the human race", makes you think there's a winner and loser doesn't it? oh how wrong those people are...

Mes respects, Lazare.


I miei rispetti alla Repubblica Francese.

The French Republic showed, with the example of Lazare (born Lazzaro) Ponticelli, what a good policy towards immigrates can do: turn poor immigrates into proud citizens.