François de Grossouvre

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François de Grossouvre (March 29, 1918, Vienne, Isère - April 7, 1994, Paris) was a French politician charged in 1981 by newly-elected president François Mitterrand with overseeing national security and other sensitive matters, in particular those concerning Lebanon, Syria, Tunisia, Morocco, Gabon, the Gulf countries, Pakistan and the two Koreas. He was also in charge of the French branch of Gladio, NATO's stay-behind paramilitary secret armies during the Cold War.

During World War II, François de Grossouvre was a member of Joseph Darnand's Service d'ordre légionnaire (SOL), a Vichyst militia. He left in 1943 to fight in the Vercors region. After the Liberation, it was discovered that he had in fact infiltrated the SOL on behalf of Organisation de résistance de l'armée (ORA) of which he was a member. Grossouvre then became leader of Arc-en-Ciel, the French branch of Gladio.

In 1985, he officially ended his functions as adviser to the president, and worked as counsellor for arms-trader Marcel Dassault.

Grossouvre allegedly committed suicide on April 7, 1994, although some, such as Captain Paul Barril, claimed that he had been murdered.

Grossouvres's funeral took place on April 11, 1994 at Saint-Pierre de Moulins (Allier) church. Among the 400 persons assembled were president François Mitterrand, former Lebanese president Amin Gemayel, diplomatic representatives from Morocco and Pakistan, and former socialist ministers Pierre Joxe, Louis Mexandeau and René Souchon.