Jump to content

Marius Berliet

From Alfawiki
Adapted from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0Updated 21 July 202516 sources

Marius Berliet (full name Marius Maximin François Joseph Berliet; January 21, 1866 – April 17, 1949) was a French mechanic, inventor, and automotive entrepreneur, founder of the Berliet marque.

Biography

Marius Berliet came from a family of weavers in Lyon’s La Croix Rousse district.[a 1] Orphaned at age twelve, he attended night school, where his passion for technology emerged.[1]

In 1894, he built his first engine in a 90 m² family workshop and installed it in a self‑built automobile in 1895.[a 1] Soon, with only two employees, he founded his own car workshop.[2]

By 1898 his new engine design had made his cars popular around Lyon. Lacking start‑up capital, in 1905 he sold an American Locomotive Company the patent for one of his sports cars for 500,000 gold francs.[3][a 1] With those funds he expanded his plant in Lyon’s Monplaisir district.

In 1906, Berliet began truck production, quickly gaining fame. The French Army took notice, and in 1910 one of his vehicles carried the President of the Republic. That same year, Marius Berliet was awarded the Legion of Honour.[a 1]

During World War I, the firm received major military orders, notably tens of thousands of Berliet CBA trucks.[4] In 1915, to meet army demand, he opened new factories in Vénissieux and Saint-Priest outside Lyon. That complex expanded until 1939.[a 1]

By the early 1920s about 5,000 people worked at Berliet’s plants. Berliet practised paternalism:

  • Workers received slightly higher wages than competitors. The Berliet family built homes, schools, a farm, and a stadium for employees and their families.[5]
  • He imposed strict discipline, personally overseeing production details and employing many supervisors to monitor staff infractions.

Between 1936 and 1938 Berliet’s plants saw frequent strikes; in the 1936 strike, 4,500 of 5,000 workers participated.[6]

With World War II’s outbreak, automobile production ceased in favor of trucks. After France’s capitulation, Lyon fell in Vichy France and Berliet continued supplying trucks—even to Nazi Germany.[7] As one of the last car makers in occupied territory, he worked under German automotive authority GBK, producing only about 30 GDRA 28W gasoline trucks due to material shortages.

In March 1944 the family council refused Resistance emissaries’ requests to sabotage the plants.[8] In May the Allies bombed the factories heavily.[9]

After liberation, 78‑year‑old Marius Berliet was arrested, accused of collaboration and anti‑national activities, including truck production for Germany[7] and refusal to cooperate with the Resistance.[10] His 1940–44 profits were estimated at 502 million francs, 174 million from enemy trade.[11] He was also accused of handing a worker to the Gestapo.[12] External managers were appointed to run the plants.

In June 1946 he was sentenced to two years in prison; his sons Jean and Paul received five years’ corrective work. The family estate was fined 200 million francs and barred from living in Rhône, Seine‑et‑Oise, and Seine‑et‑Marne. The Art Déco family villa in Lyon was confiscated.[13][14]

Marius Berliet died in Nice on April 17, 1949.

Aftermath

  • On November 7, 1949 the Conseil d’État ruled the factories had been illegally confiscated and returned them to the family.[15] In 1977 those plants became part of Renault Trucks.
  • In Lyon, a street is named after Marius Berliet.


Bibliography

  • Patrice Béghain, Bruno Benoit, Gérard Corneloup & Bruno Thévenon, *Dictionnaire historique de Lyon*, Stéphane Bachès, 2009, ISBN 978-2-915266-65-8.
  • Bernadette Angleraud & Catherine Pellissier, *Les dynasties lyonnaises: Des Morin-Pons aux Mérieux du XIXᵉ siècle à nos jours*, Perrin, 2003, ISBN 2-262-01196-6.
  • Louis Muron, *Marius Berliet: 1866–1949*, ELAH, 2004.

External links

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 pp. 138–140
  1. ↑ Pierre Cayez, "Quelques aspects du patronat lyonnais pendant la deuxième étape de l’industrialisation", in Maurice Lévy-Leboyer (ed.), *Le Patronat de la seconde industrialisation*, De l’Atelier, 1989, p. 192.
  2. ↑ Emmanuel Quenson, *L'École d’apprentissage Renault : 1919—1989 : un exemple d'école d’entreprise*, CNRS Éditions, 2001, p. 31.
  3. ↑ Jean-Louis Loubet, *L’Industrie automobile : 1905—1971*, Droz, 1999, p. 75.
  4. ↑ Jean-Louis Loubet, *L’Industrie automobile : 1905—1971*, Droz, 1999, p. 130.
  5. ↑ Isabelle Lisowski, "Marius Berliet", in *Cent ans de catholicisme social à Lyon et en Rhône-Alpes: La postérité de ‘Rerum Novarum’*, De l’Atelier, 1992, pp. 206–209.
  6. ↑ Louis Muron, *Marius Berliet: 1866—1949*, Éditions lyonnaises d’Art et d’Histoire, 1995, pp. 36, 138.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Jean-Gabriel Jeudy, *Camions de France, Deuxième époque*, Massin éditeur, 1994, p. 76. ISBN 2-7072-0236-3
  8. ↑ Jean-Pierre Rioux (ed.), *Nouvelle Histoire de la France contemporaine, tome 15: La quatrième République, 1944—1952*, Éditions du Seuil, 1983, p. 217.
  9. ↑ Marcel Peyrenet, *Nous prendrons les usines : Berliet : la gestion ouvrière, 1944—1949*, Garance, 1980, p. 17.
  10. ↑ Renaud de Rochebrune & Jean-Claude Hazera, *Les patrons sous l’Occupation*, pp. 50, 54–55.
  11. ↑ Renaud de Rochebrune & Jean-Claude Hazera, *Les patrons sous l’Occupation*, p. 68.
  12. ↑ Benoît Collombat & David Servenay, *Histoire secrète du patronat de 1945 à nos jours*, La Découverte, Paris, 2009, p. 39. ISBN 978-2-7071-5764-5
  13. ↑ "L'épuration économique en France à la Libération", p. 249
  14. ↑ Culture Ministry record: Villa Berliet
  15. ↑ Renaud de Rochebrune & Jean-Claude Hazera, *Les patrons sous l’Occupation*, p. 100.

Related profiles

BBruno BonnellLLéon BolléeGGeorges AubertAAlexandre Bompard
Retrieved from "https://www.alfawiki.org/index.php?title=Marius_Berliet&oldid=4031"