Maurice Goudard
Maurice Goudard (1881-1948), founder and president of the Solex
1949 Obituary [1]
"MAURICE GOUDARD, who was born in Paris in 1881, was the founder and President of the Solex Co, makers of radiators and carburettors, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, and had been head of the firm for forty years.
He received his theoretical training at the Ecole Centrale, and, while pursuing his studies, perfected, in collaboration with a fellow pupil, a new centrifugal radiator, which some years later was adopted for all the motor buses in Paris. In 1906 he established his business at Neuilly and, in the course of his long connection with the firm, was responsible for many basic patents in connection with the cooling and carburation of internal combustion engines.
The products of the business were widely known and adopted on the Continent and in England, and in the interests of the firm he made a tour of the world, which included a visit to Japan. In 1940, however, he suffered severely from shock following the explosion of a bomb, which obliged him to take a less active part in affairs for the rest of his life. His death occurred on 17th January 1948. Mr. Goudard had been a Member of the Institution of Automobile Engineers since 1934. He was elected President of the Societe des Ingenieurs de l'Automobile in 1932. During the war of 1914-18 he was for a time in charge of a motor park at Nancy, with the rank of captain, and later he was selected to reorganize the motorized service in Paris. He was awarded the Legion d'honneur, military division, and in 1935 was advanced to commander."