Jacques Drollet

Drollet has been variously described as having joined the Free French Navy when he was 17, serving in an informal French/American "liaison" unit during the Solomon Islands campaign, and on the Triomphant, where he assisted in the evacuation of Nauru, After the end of the Second World War, Drollet attended normal school in Toulouse, and then returned to French Polynesia where he worked as a schoolteacher. and in 1962 introduced a resolution asking that the Assembly intervene on Pouvanaa's behalf. After Charles de Gaulle banned the RDPT in 1964, Drollet did not join its successor party Here Ai'a, and did not run for office in the 1967 election. Drollet returned to Paris in late 1964 to discuss French Polynesian finances, and to negotiate the price that France would pay for the use of the atolls. During this visit, he had a private meeting with de Gaulle, after which he proposed that the atolls be given to France in perpetuity, free of charge. He initially claimed that de Gaulle had appealed to his patriotism; On 6 February 1964, Drollet chaired the meeting of the Assembly's permanent commission at which the proposal to give the atolls to France was approved, by a vote of 3–0 with 2 abstentions. He later said that he hoped France would never forget what Polynesia had done. In September 1966, de Gaulle invited Drollet to be present at the Bételgeuse test. ==Later life and legacy==

Drollet spent 15 years as the director of the Territorial Education Service ("Service de l'Education Territorial"). In 1972, in collaboration with Yoshihiko Sinoto, and at the encouragement of Marlon Brando, Drollet "establish[ed] an archaeological field school" for the exploration of sites on Teti'aroa, which Brando had recently purchased. As well, he served as the administrator of the Austral Islands for three years, He also co-founded the Socredo bank. ==Personal life==

Drollet was the father of Dag Drollet, who was romantically involved with Cheyenne Brando, daughter of Marlon Brando—and who in 1990 was killed by Christian Brando, Marlon Brando's son. In the aftermath of Christian Brando's conviction for manslaughter, Drollet threatened to have Marlon Brando arrested if he ever returned to French Polynesia. He was also the uncle of French Polynesian politician Jacqui Drollet. Drollet's brother-in-law was Jacques Tauraa. ==Recognition==

Drollet was an Officer of the Legion of Honour, a Commander of the Ordre des Palmes académiques, and a Commander of the Order of Tahiti Nui. ==Notes==