The town of Simorre in the Gers in mourning … The Republic, it has just lost one of its great servants: Claude Silberzahn-Mendousse left us Friday, April 17!
Claude Silberzahn-Mendousse, born March 18, 1935 in Mulhouse, was a high official and great servant of the Republic. His personal life journey allowed him to settle in the Gers, in Simorre, the cradle of his maternal family and that of his wife. He became mayor of the town in 2001 … and remained so until 2014.
Under his mandate were carried out in particular the fire station at La Déouine, the union and the library at Maison Marre, the complete renovation of the school … He also paved the heart of the village and enlarged the cemetery. Obsessed by the “decline” of his village which he wanted to put an end to, he built up a land reserve (even if it meant using an expropriation order which in his time – June 2003 – had caused a stir) and opened up land for the construction. With its municipal teams, it seems to have obtained some results: 665 inhabitants in 2006, 706 in 2013.
Prefect then … director of the DGSE!
After studying at the National School of France overseas. He was posted to Guinea during the French period. He carried out twenty-seven months of military service as an officer of the Specialized Administrative Sections in Algeria. He then worked on planning the Tunisian economy for two years. Then, he went into central administration to climb the ladder of the prefectural career: sub-prefect of arrondissement, secretary general of prefecture, prefect Guyana from 1982 to 1984, then of Haute-Normandie and Franche-Comté. He was appointed by the President of the Republic as Director General of External Security during the Council of Ministers on March 23, 1989. While he was not a soldier as tradition intended, François Mitterrand appointed him director of the DGSE.
Author of a book on his years of secrets
The information from the DGSE, transmitted directly to Matignon, also allows it to get involved in the presidential “pre-square”. Claude Silberzahn drastically modernizes the DGSE. Its reform has notably gone through the creation of a Strategy Directorate within the service, to which it appoints the future Director General of the DGSE, Jean-Claude Cousseran. He also renovated the premises and ordered an extension to the Fort de Noisy. He left the DGSE in 1993 during the second cohabitation at the request of the new government. In 1995, he co-wrote a book with Jean Guisnel: At the heart of the secret: 1,500 days at the helm of the DGSE (1989-1993). He ended his brilliant career as a master adviser at the Court of Auditors. He also chaired the National Farm Structures Council.
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