Next to Last French WW I Veteran Died

Louis de Cazenave died Januray 20, 2008 at age 110, leaving just one more known "poilus" from WW I. The last-known vet is Lazare Ponticelli.

de Cazenave was born October 16, 1897 and called up to fight in 1916. He was in both the infantry and artillery.

He took part in the Battle of the Somme in 1916 where more than a million soldiers died. During WW I, 1.4 million French soldiers were killed and another 4-5 million wounded out of 8.5 million who served.

French President Nicholas Sarkozy said, "This generation has only one remaining representrative today."


Lazare Ponticelli has since died as well.