(Henri) Philippe (Omer) Pétain Biography (1856–1951) French soldier and statesman, born in Cauchy-à-la-Tour, N France. During World War 1 he became a national hero for his defence of Verdun (1916), and was made commander-in-chief (1917) and marshal of France (1918). When France collapsed in 1940, he negotiated the armistice with Germany and Italy, and became chief-of-state, establishing his government at Vichy. His aim to unite France under the slogan ‘Work, Family and Country’, and keep it out of the war, involved active collaboration with Germany. After the liberation, he was tried in the French courts, his death sentence for treason being commuted to life imprisonment on the Ile d'Yeu, where he died. His role remains controversial, and some still regard him as a patriot rather than a traitor.
