Bernard Destremau

Biography

Destremau was born in Paris into a military family, the third son of a WW I general. A precocious French junior champion in the mid-1930s, Destremau later won several major tournaments including the 1941 and the 1942 French Championships, which at the time was not counted as a grand slam event. He also won the 1938 French Championships doubles (with Yvon Petra, beating Don Budge-Gene Mako in four sets), was a semi-finalist in 1937 in singles (losing to Henner Henkel), and won several national titles including the 1951 and 1953 French National singles championships. Destremau was also a quarterfinalist in singles at Roland Garros in 1936 and 1938. He stayed an amateur, devoted his tennis mostly to the Davis Cup, the King of Sweden Cup and team matches and was ranked 1st in France for several years. As a veteran he won the Wimbledon over-45 doubles event with Bill Talbert, in 1964.

During World War II he escaped from occupied France to Spain and North Africa. After joining the Free French forces as a tank officer, he fought in France and Germany, was shot in the back near Toulon and wounded on two other affairs by hand-grenade shrapnel. He received the Legion of Honour on the battlefield from the hands of Marshal de Lattre. After the war, still playing tennis for France, he became a diplomat and was posted to Egypt, South Africa and Belgium. Venturing into politics he was elected député for Versailles in 1967 and held the seat until 1978, became Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in 1974, and retired in 1981 after a last post as ambassador to Argentina.

Destremau married Diane de Pracomtal in 1954 and was the father of a daughter and two sons.

A prolific writer of books on history and politics, he became a member of the French Academie des Sciences Morales et Politiques in 1996.