William Siss, Soldats et généraux des campagnes d’Europe occidentale, 1944–1945: portraits et scènes de guerre de Siss, peintre aux Armées

Paris: P.A. Chavane & Cie, [1946]

Siss and the novelist Bernard Simiot (Benjamin Simionesco, 1904–1996), who wrote the introduction, had accompanied General de Lattre de Tassigny with the 1st Army into Germany. The collection of 67 loose plates by the artist Siss is mainly portraits of commanders from the French and allied services and is an example of sophisticated publicity sponsored by the French services. This portrait is of General Koenig, commander in chief of the FFI.

The copy on display has a dedication by Louis Pasteur Vallery-Radot (1886–1970) who wrote the preface and was president of the Comité Medical de la Résistance, French academician, and grandson of Louis Pasteur. The dedication is to his god-daughter Florence Delay (born 1941), actress, writer and also French academician.

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