Who is Georges-Marie Haardt?

Who is Georges-Marie Haardt?

Born in Naples in 1884 of Belgian parents, naturalized French in 1929, Georges-Marie Haardt served during the First World War in armored personnel carriers. Engineer, he was attached to Citroën for twenty years, first as sales manager then as general manager of the company Mors from 1905 to 1923 then number 2 of the Citroën company.

He was appointed leader of three Citroën expeditions, first through the Sahara in 1922, then Africa (Croisière Noire) in 1924, then Asia (Croisière Jaune) in 1931. flu, complicated by double pneumonia, contracted during this last expedition, that he died in Hong Kong on March 16, 1932.

During this trip, which was also scientific, a xylophagous beetle (eating wood) was discovered; the entomologist André Théry gave it the name Buprestis haardti in honor of this adventurer.

Learn more about the Yellow Cruise (1931-1932)  
We invite you to read the complete and fascinating file, produced by the Terre Blanche Archives Center.

The first expedition led by Georges-Marie Haardt

This expedition took place in the Sahara from December 17, 1922 to January 7, 1923, with 5 half-tracks Citroën B2 10 HP model K1, covering 3,200 kilometers, unmarked, between Touggourt and Timbuktu. This Raid Citroën was the first voyage of exploration to take place entirely under the gaze of the world press with regular bulletins appearing in the newspapers as soon as radio and telegraph transmissions reached Paris from the desert. It was a demonstration of the industrial, technical and commercial know-how of André Citroën and the brand with the chevrons.

To find out more about « Le Scarabée d’Or, a challenge for young people », identical reconstruction of the Citroën B2 10 HP model K1 half-track