Who is Your Hero?

By "Benjamin" a teenager living in France

My hero is L'Abbe Pierre, although his real name was Henri Groues. He was born on August 5th, 1912, in Lyon. He is my hero because he devoted his life to poor people and he was an example of generosity. He began his mission in 1931 when he received an inheritance from his family. He didn't want this inheritance, so he distributed his possessions to a lot of charity organizations.

He became a priest on August 14th, 1938. During the Second World War, he accommodated many Jews in the free zone and he resisted against the German Army. But in May 1943, he was arrested by the German Army in Cambo-les-Bains. He broke out of prison and crossed over to Spain to meet General De Gaulle on June 17th in Alger. It's in 1949 when he began building accommodations for homeless people's families. His meeting with a depressed man named Georges was the beginning of the Emmamus Community which he founded.

Three years later, he got a 10 billion credit from the parliament to build twelve thousand accommodations for poor people in France. In 1981, he was named Officer of the Legion of Honour. In 2001, he received the Badges of Large Officer of the Legion of Honour, and in 2004, the Large Cross of the Legion of Honour from the President of the Republic. Sadly, he died on January 22nd, 2007, when he was 94.

I consider L'Abbe Pierre as a hero because there aren't a lot of people like him who devote their lives to helping others. He had lots of charisma and he was very involved in politics. His influence among political men enabled him to implement his projects. He was admired by poor people for giving them the strength to fight and for bringing joy into their lives.

l'Abbe Pierre was also known and respected around the world by people like Jean Paul II, Martin Luther King, Gandhi and a lot of other heroes who devoted their lives to others instead of being self-seeking. I think that we should always remember what L'Abbe Pierre did for the world and take lessons from his life.
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