Born Marcel Bloch in Paris, he graduated as one of France's first aeronautical engineers in 1914. A manufacturer of aircraft parts in World War I, his first product was the propeller for the famous SPAD fighter. After the war he produced a successful line of Block transports, bombers and fighters, including the Block 152, one of the few French fighters available to combat the German Nazi invasion of 1940. He and his brother became important figures in the Resistance movement. Marcel was arrested by the Gestapo in 1944 and barely survived the Buchenwald concentration camp. After the war he changed his name to Dassault, his brother's Resistance code name. Dassault's greatest contribution to aviation history resulted from his postwar founding of Dassault Aviation, which later became the leading aircraft builder in France. He revolutionized French national defense with such aircraft as the Ouragen and the supersonic Mystere fighters. The first European Mach 2 aircraft, the Mirage, gave new independence to French foreign policy, both politically and economically. The aerospace leadership of this French industry can be directly traced to Dassault's leadership. He became a member of the French Parliament in 1951. Marcel Dassault is remembered especially as a man with a formidable desire to create, and with forward-looking determination. In his words, "With no false modesty, I will say I have always tried hard not to run out of imagination. I have worked hard with the team I gathered. I have never let hurdles discourage me. I love what I do, and I know how to use my willpower to get anything that might divert me out of my way. I lead a simple and happy life. Everything around me converges, and indeed must converge, to promote the task I have set myself."
Inducted in 1973.
Portrait Location: Hall of Fame Hallway