Jean-Baptiste Doumeng

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Doumeng 1983

Jean-Baptiste Doumeng (born December 2, 1919 in Lacasse , Haute-Garonne department , † April 6, 1987 in Noé ) was a French entrepreneur and billionaire. He was also a member of the French Communist Party (PCF) and a sponsor of the Red Star Paris football club . He was nicknamed "the red billionaire" ( French le milliardaire rouge ) in public .

life and career

Doumeng grew up in the south of France as the son of a simple farm laborer and joined the Communist Party in 1935 at the age of 16. At that time he was already a half-orphan, as his mother, who worked as a wet nurse in rich families in addition to her work on her own farm , had died of overwork three years earlier. The young communist was unable to attend school for financial reasons, but was one of the leaders of the local peasant movement. Despite his lack of school education, he dealt with theorists such as François Rabelais and Karl Marx at this time . During the Second World War , Doumeng organized the food supply for the resistance against the German occupation and after the war he held an important position in a union. At the same time his entrepreneurial success began when he imported potatoes from Czechoslovakia during a food crisis and sold them for a profit. Doumeng acquired his billion-dollar fortune through trade with communist states in the post-war period.

Activity in football and politics

In 1967 he used his fortune to implement a merger between the southern French first division club FC Toulouse and the second division Red Star Paris . This de facto meant that Paris would henceforth play in the first division, while Toulouse temporarily withdrew from professional business. In addition, most of the players were transferred from Toulouse to Paris. This process is unique in the history of French football .

At the local level, the entrepreneur also held political offices and was mayor of the municipality of Noé in the Haute-Garonne department and a member of the general council of the department. A 1977 book claimed the billionaire used corporate profits to fund the Communist Party. Regarding the connection between his wealth and his political beliefs, Doumeng said communism will make everyone as rich as himself.

heritage

After Doumeng's death in 1987 and the decline of the communist systems in Eastern Europe in 1989, the company was continued by the descendants of Jean-Baptiste. At the beginning of the 1990s, this resulted in major losses, which in 1993 led to the break-up of various subsidiaries by a court order.

Web links

Commons : Jean-Baptiste Doumeng  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b DOUMENG Jean-Baptiste , tombes-sepultures.com
  2. ↑ Jean-Baptiste Doumeng , munzinger.de
  3. ^ Ligue 1. TFC-Lille: le 1 500e match en championnat , ladepeche.fr
  4. ^ Rich Communist: Jean-Baptiste Doumeng; French Trader , latimes.com
  5. ↑ LA DEUXIEME MORT DE L'EMPIRE DOUMENG , lexpress.fr
personal data
SURNAME Doumeng, Jean-Baptiste
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French entrepreneur, football official and politician
DATE OF BIRTH December 2, 1919
PLACE OF BIRTH Lavernose-Lacasse , France
DATE OF DEATH April 6, 1987
Place of death Noé (Haute-Garonne) , France