Louis Renault (industrialist), Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

Louis Renault (industrialist)

French industrialist (1877-1944)

Date of Birth: 12-Feb-1877

Place of Birth: 8th arrondissement of Paris, Île-de-France, France

Date of Death: 24-Oct-1944

Profession: businessperson, engineer, entrepreneur, inventor, racing driver, industrialist, racing automobile driver

Nationality: France

Zodiac Sign: Aquarius

Louis Renault (French: [lwi ??no]; 12 February 1877 – 24 October 1944) was a French industrialist, one of the founders of Renault and a pioneer of the automobile industry. Renault built one of France's largest automobile manufacturing concerns, which bears his name to this day.
During World War I his factories contributed massively to the war effort notably so by the creation and manufacture of the first effective tank: the Renault FT tank.
Accused of collaborating with the Germans during World War II, he died while awaiting trial in liberated France toward the end of 1944 under uncertain circumstances.
His company was seized and nationalized by the provisional government of France although he died before he could be tried.
His factories were the only ones permanently expropriated by the French government.In 1956, Time Magazine described Renault as "rich, powerful and famous, cantankerous, brilliant, often brutal, the little Napoleon of an automaking empire — vulgar, loud, domineering, impatient, he was a terror to associates, a friend to practically none," adding that to the French working man, Renault became known as "the ogre of Billancourt."