French Officers and Civil Officials with Japanese Awards

Antonin Bridonneau in early 1930s.

 

Colonel Armand Louis Henri Noguette with 6th/5th class Rising Sun order.

 

Lieutenant-Colonel Hubert-Joseph Henry (June 2, 1846 – August 31, 1898) with 6th/5th Rising Sun order, Dragon of Annam order and Tunisian Glory order. In 1897 he was involved in the Dreyfus affair. Arrested for having forged evidence against Alfred Dreyfus, he was found dead in his prison cell. He was considered a hero by the Anti-Dreyfusards.​

 

French politician Pierre Petit with 2nd class Rising Sun order breast star. He is also wearing Grand Cross of the order of the Italian Crown.

Close-up.

 

Unidentified divisional general with 6th/5th Rising Sun order order.

 

General Louis Colson (1875–1951) was born in Toul (Lorraine), attended the École Polytechnique and Saint-Cyr as part of the Corps of Engineers’ advanced training program, followed by the École Supérieure de Guerre. A Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor, he held very high-ranking positions within the Army. He was the last Secretary of State for War of the Third Republic, then Minister of War under the Vichy regime (for less than a month) until his retirement in 1940. Tried after the Liberation, he was acquitted on the grounds of his involvement in the Resistance.​

Colson was promoted to the rank of Commander of the Legion of Honor by decree on July 5, 1934, before being elevated to the rank of Grand Officer by decree on December 23, 1937 (awarded on January 24, 1938), which allows us to date this portrait to between July 1934 and December 1937. Also visible in the portrait are the Croix de Guerre (with two commendations), the Officer’s Cross of the Order of the Crown of Belgium, received in 1920; the Cross of Saints Maurice and Lazarus, received in 1915; the Officer’s Palms of the Order of Public Instruction; and the 4th class Order of the Sacred Treasure.​