André Trannoy is a life-long struggle for justice.

Born in Paris on August 27, 1907, André Trannoy grew up surrounded by the affection of his mother and sister, following the death of his father during the First World War. A brilliant student, he attended the Stanislas school in Paris from 1919 to 1925, where he excelled academically and athletically, becoming captain of the soccer team and nurturing a passion for the mountains.

However, at the age of 18, just after graduating from high school, he was struck down by poliomyelitis, leaving him a quadriplegic. Faced with a society not adapted to people with disabilities, Trannoy encountered many obstacles. "When you're a cripple, you stay at home", he was told one day.

At the Faculté des Lettres in Paris, he also encountered hostile reactions: "You're cluttering up our corridors with your wheelchair, Monsieur. You don't think we're going to bring you our registers?

Despite these challenges, he managed to obtain certification in French and Latin at the Sorbonne.
In 1933, at the age of 25, he founded the Association des Paralysés de France (APF) with Jacques Dubuisson, Jeanne Henry and Clothilde Lamborot, whom he had met at a care institute in Lausanne. APF's aim is to help people with disabilities break out of their isolation and enable them to live like everyone else.

That same year, the loss of his mother, his daily breadwinner, plunged him into despair. He sent a telegram to Father Robert Guilloux, chaplain of the École Supérieure d'Agriculture (a school associated with the UCO), who was to welcome him to the Université Catholique de l'Ouest. Arriving in Angers on November 23, 1933, he attended the faculty's literature courses: "I was carried to classes on the backs of fellow students, or on the backs of the abbots who were taking the same courses, on the backs of Jesuits, if you please". In 1935, he graduated from our university with a degree in literature.

Hired by Mgr Francis Vincent, rector of UCO, he began teaching history in September 1939, while continuing to serve as president of the APF. After defending his thesis on Montalembert in 1942, for which he received a prize from the Académie française, he was awarded tenure and took up the Marchand chair in modern and contemporary history. "I've been a happy teacher. I had a job I loved, and students whom I could still name today.

On December 8, 1943, he became engaged to Françoise Bureau de Colombier in the University chapel - the feast day of the Immaculate Conception, the UCO's patron saint - and they were married on April 14, 1944 in Angers Cathedral. In 1945, General de Gaulle recognized the APF as a public utility organization. André Trannoy continued to teach at the Université Catholique de l'Ouest until November 1949, before running a home for disabled children in St Fargeau, Seine-et-Marne.

André Trannoy remained chairman of the APF association for 46 years, until 1979.

He died on May 15, 1994 in the 13th arrondissement of Paris. In 2003, the city of Paris paid tribute to his struggle by naming a square in the 13th arrondissement in his honor, near the APF headquarters. The square was renamed on May 15, 2024 to include the name of his wife, Françoise.

André Trannoy's battle continues at the Université catholique de l'Ouest, which welcomes nearly four times as many students with disabilities each year as the average for other higher education establishments. Local support and a dedicated accessibility service enable young people to enjoy quality higher education.

In 2023, APF France Handicap will be celebrating its 90th anniversary on our Angevin campus, an occasion to celebrate this alumnus who, true to his motto, has "risked the impossible" to defy obstacles and advance the cause of disability.

N.B.: The quotations in this article are taken from Risquer l'impossible, André Trannoy (Mame, 1989).