Michel de Bourbon-Parma
Michel Marie Xavier Waldemar Georg Robert Karl Eymar de Bourbon-Parma , Prince de Bourbon-Parma (born March 4, 1926 in Paris - † July 7, 2018 in Neuilly-sur-Seine ), was a French businessman, veteran of the Second World War and Automobile racer .
family
Michel de Bourbon-Parma was born in 1926 to René de Bourbon-Parma and Margaretha of Denmark . His older sister was Anna of Bourbon-Parma (1923-2016). His paternal grandfather was Robert I. Karl Ludwig Maria of Parma , the last Duke of Parma , Piacenza and Guastalla . His mother was the daughter of the Danish admiral Waldemar of Denmark , a son of King Christian IX. This made her a member of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg .
In 1951 he married Princess Yolande de Broglie-Revel , from the Broglie family . The couple had five children, three daughters and two sons, and divorced in 1999. Another daughter was born out of wedlock in 1977 .
In 2003 he married Maria Pia of Savoy , daughter of Umberto II , the last king of Italy , and his wife Marie José of Belgium . His second wife was married to Alexander of Yugoslavia for the first time .
Emigration and World War II
Michel de Bourbon-Parma grew up in Paris. His father was employed in a company that manufactured tank systems for propane gas when the Second World War broke out in 1939. After the invasion of the German Wehrmacht in France in 1940, the family fled to New York . He himself came with his brother to a boarding school run by Jesuits in Montreal . Before long, an incident occurred when he struck down a Jesuit who was chastising his brother. When the boarding line then denied them the Christmas holidays, the brothers left the facility without permission and took a Greyhound - remote bus to New York. Neither did they return to Montreal.
After a year as an employee in an import-export company, he joined the United States Army in 1943 at the age of 17 with his father's permission . With the rank of lieutenant he took part in the secret Operation Jedburgh and acted as a saboteur behind the German lines in France. He was subordinate to the British Colonel Tommy Macpherson . The third man in the group was radio operator Sergeant Arthur Brown.
After the liberation of France by the Allies , he was transferred to Indochina in August 1945 to fight against the rising Việt Minh . On the first day of his mission, he was captured along with five other Frenchmen. He spent eleven months in captivity. Several attempts to escape failed, and four of his comrades were killed while in camp. In 1946 he was released. He received various awards for his services in the war, including the Order of Merit of the Legion of Honor , the Military Cross and the Croix de guerre .
Civil life
After his military service, he worked for Zodiac Marine & Pool , a French company that manufactures rigid inflatable boats for many decades .
Career in motorsport
In the 1960s, Michel de Bourbon-Parma competed in car races as a men's driver for a number of years . He celebrated his first success in the Targa Florio in 1964 , where he and Claude Bourillot on one of the Scuderia Filipinetti reported Ferrari 250 GTO overall tenth. He competed twice in the 24 Hours of Le Mans , but retired in both events. In 1964 he and Robert Bouharde drove a René Bonnet Aérodjet and could not finish the race due to a gearbox failure. In 1966 he was Giampiero Biscaldi's partner in this 24-hour race . The duo drove a Ferrari 275 GTB that Ed Hugus had reported. This time a clutch failure stopped the ambitions.
His greatest success was second place in the Tour de France for automobiles in 1964 ; he was there partner of Jean Guichet in the factory Ferrari 250 GTO.
statistics
Le Mans results
year | team | vehicle | Teammate | placement | Failure reason |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1964 |
![]() |
René Bonnet Aérodjet |
![]() |
failure | Gearbox damage |
1966 |
![]() |
Ferrari 275 GTB |
![]() |
failure | Clutch damage |
Individual results in the sports car world championship
season | team | race car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4th | 5 | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14th | 15th | 16 | 17th | 18th | 19th | 20th |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1964 |
Scuderia Filipinetti Automobiles René Bonnet Scuderia Ferrari |
Ferrari 250 GTO René Bonnet Aérodjet |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
10 | DNF | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||
1965 | Scuderia Filipinetti | Ferrari 250 GTO |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
DNF | ||||||||||||||||||||||
1966 | Ed Hugus | Ferrari 275 GTB |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
|||||||
DNF |
literature
- Christian Moity, Jean-Marc Teissedre: 24 hours of mans . 1923-1992. 2 volumes. Édition d'Art JB Barthelemy, Besançon 1992, ISBN 2-909413-06-3 .
Web links
- Michel de Bourbon-Parme (F) - All Results. In: Racing Sports Cars. (English).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Michel di Borbone, Principe di Parma on thepeerage.com , accessed on September 11, 2016.
- ↑ John Nelander: French-born prince and part-time Palm Beacher Michel de Bourbon-Parme recalls adventures. In: The Shiny Sheet. March 29, 2011, accessed July 9, 2018 .
- ^ Robert Hall: Allied 'bandits' behind enemy lines. In: BBC . June 5, 2009, accessed July 9, 2018 (English, Michel de Bourbon-Parma and Operation Jedburgh).
- ^ Targa Florio 1964. In: Racing Sports Cars. April 26, 1964, accessed July 9, 2018 .
- ^ Tour de France 1964. In: Racing Sports Cars. April 26, 1964, accessed July 9, 2018 .
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Bourbon-Parma, Michel de |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Bourbon-Parma, Michel Marie Xavier Waldemar Georg Robert Karl Eymar de (full name) |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | French businessman and racing car driver |
DATE OF BIRTH | March 4, 1926 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Paris |
DATE OF DEATH | 7th July 2018 |
Place of death | Neuilly-sur-Seine |