http://www.grolier.com/wwii/wwii_degaulle.html CHARLES DE GAULLE, (1890-1970), president of France, who was the leader of the Free French movement during WORLD WAR II and the chief architect of the Fifth Republic. Charles Andre Joseph Marie de Gaulle was born in Lille, France, on Nov. 22, 1890, the son of a teacher of philosophy and literature at a Jesuit college. From early childhood he took a keen interest in reading. Fascinated by history, he formed an almost mystical conception of service to France.
