Jean Moulin
Moulin was born on 20 June 1899 in Béziers, France, a town where his father was a professor in geography. He had a peaceful childhood with his brother and sister. Later, following his father's example, Moulin entertained strong Republican convictions. In 1917 he signed up for the Law Institute of Montpellier, and was appointed at the cabinet of the prefect of Hérault. He enlisted in the French Army on 17 April 1918, and was posted in the 2nd Engineer Regiment, but before he could join the battle lines after concentrated training, the armistice was called. De-mobilized in November 1919, he immediately applied for the Montpellier prefecture, where he resumed his old function in the same week. The quality of his work brought him to be promoted to "chef-adjoint de cabinet" end 1920. After World War I, he resumed his studies and obtained a law degree in 1921. He then entered the prefectural administration as chef de cabinet to the deputy of Savoie in 1922, then as sous-préfet of Albertville, from 1925 to 1930. He was France's youngest sous-préfet at the time. He married Marguerite Cerruti in the town of Betton-Bettonet in September 1926, but the couple divorced in 1928. He was appointed sous-préfet of Châteaulin, Brittany in 1930, when he drew political cartoons for the newspaper Le Rire on the side under the pseudonym Romanin. He also illustrated books by the Breton poet Tristan Corbière, including an etching for La Pastorale de Conlie, Corbière's poem about Camp Conlie where many Breton soldiers died in 1870 (during the Franco-Prussian War). He also made friends with the Breton poets Saint-Pol-Roux in Camaret and Max Jacob in Quimper. In 1932, Pierre Cot, a radical socialist politician, names him chef adjoint to his Cabinet of Foreign Affairs under Paul Doumer's presidency. In 1933, he is sous-préfet of Thonon-les-Bains, parallel to his function of head of cabinet of Pierre Cot in the Air ministry under Albert Lebrun. The 19 January 1934, he is appointed sous-préfet of Montargis, but does not pick up this function and prefers to remain by Pierre Cot's side. In the first half of April he is redirected to the Seine préfecture, and, 1 July, takes his place as secretary general in Sommes, in Amiens. In 1936 he was once more named chief of cabinet of Pierre Cot's Air ministry of the Popular Front, and along with Cot helps the Spanish republican rebels by sending them planes and pilots. At the same time he also participated in the organisation of many civil air races like the crossing of the South Atlantic sea, the race Istres-Damas-Le Bourget, on which occasion he presented the winners with their prize; Benito Mussolini's own son was one of those winners. He became France's youngest préfet in the Aveyron département, based in the commune of Rodez, in January 1937. Some claim that during the Spanish Civil War he supplied arms from the Soviet Union to Spain. A more commonly accepted version of events is that he used his position in the French aviation ministry to deliver planes to the Spanish Republican forces.