Lyautey, Louis Gonzalve Hubert (1854–1934)

French administrator and soldier. Lyautey proved a able colonial administrator in the new French protectorate of Morocco, where he was put in charge by Poincaré in 1912. Owing to his enlightened policy, Morocco remained loyal to France in World War I. In 1916–17 he was briefly minister for war.

He was born in Nancy and educated at St Cyr. Sent to Indo-China in 1894, he later became chief of staff to Galliéni, whom he accompanied to Madagascar in 1897. Lyautey brought order to the southern part of the previously unsubdued island. He was promoted to brigadier-general in 1903, and in 1906 became chief of the division of Oran. Lyautey was elected to the Académie in 1914. He was made marshal in 1921, and resigned his position in Morocco in 1925.