Lees dat net stomtoevallig ook op 3 juli…

Andre Citroen

In 1906, he is appointed managing director of Automobiles Mors, a company that made its name by beating a number of speed records at the turn of the century. André Citroën reorganizes the workshops and becomes involved in the design of the new models. In ten years, he doubles Mors’s annual production.

In 1912, the Engrenages Citroën-Hinstin partnership changes its name to Société Anonyme des Engrenages Citroën, a limited company, and moves to 31 Quai de Grenelle in Paris.
At the same time, André Citroën becomes Chairman of the Automobile Employers’ Federation. That same year he makes a trip to the United States, where he visits Henry Ford’s factories, taking careful note of the way the workshops are organized.

On 27 May 1914, he marries Georgina Bingen, the daughter of a Genoese banker.
Two months later, war breaks out. André is named captain of the 2nd heavy artillery regiment of the 4th Army. Observing the shortage of shells, André Citroën goes to the Ministry of War and offers to set up a factory capable of manufacturing between 5,000 and 10,000 shrapnel shells per day in the space of three to four months. He opens an ultra-modern factory on a 15-hectare site in the area of Javel and applies Frederick Taylor’s production methods. By 11 November 1918, the Citroën factory has produced more than 24 million shells.

The government frequently calls upon André Citroën, who is greatly appreciated for his remarkable leadership and organizational skills. In 1917, he reorganizes supplies to munitions plants and sets up a military postal service. In 1918, he organizes the distribution of bread ration cards across the whole Paris area in the space of just twenty-four hours.

After the war, the Javel factory is reconverted to automotive production. The single model manufactured by the plant will be mass-produced - a first in Europe - to reduce the price and bring it within reach of as many people as possible. A model of organization, the factory is equipped with a range of innovative employee facilities.
André Citroën’s love of children – he has four of his own – leads him to create the first factory making miniature cars. Soon the first Citroën toy catalogue is issued.

And yet, other than his factories, André Citroën has nothing to his name. He rents his flat, just as he rents the villa les Abeilles for holidays in Deauville from 1923. He has no personal interest in money; it is merely a means to an end.

By the early thirties, he has achieved most of his dreams of industrial success, but the Depression strikes. By 1934, he is finding it difficult to meet his financial commitments and the banks refuse to provide more money. The Michelin brothers buy a stake in the Citroën factories and then, at the request of the banks, take over the management. André Citroën’s next challenge, the launch of the Traction Avant, is not enough to save him from bankruptcy.

André Citroën dies of cancer on 3 July 1935 and is laid to rest in Montparnasse cemetery in Paris