E. Maurice Deloraine

Biography

E. Maurice Deloraine was born in Paris, France, on May 16, 1898. He received the B.S. degree, the Certificat de Mathématiques, in 1918, and in 1920 the engineering diploma of the École Supérieure de Physique et Chimie. In 1949 he was granted the degree of Docteur-Ingénieur by Paris University.

In 1917 he joined the French Army Signal Corps and in 1921 he became a member of the London Engineering Staff of the International Western Electric Company where he worked on radio broadcast transmitters, wire transmission and cable. He was responsible for part of the development in Great Britain of the first radio transatlantic telephone circuit. With the acquisition of the International Western Electric Company in 1926 by the International Telephone and Telegraph Corporation, Dr. Deloraine started an outstanding association that lasted until his retirement in 1965.

In 1928 he organized the International Standard Electric Corporation Paris laboratory that became Laboratoire Central de Telecommunications. He was made European Technical Director of that corporation in 1933.

Dr. Deloraine came to the United States in 1941 to establish a laboratory for defense work for the International Telephone and Telegraph Corporation. In 1946 he was appointed General Technical Director of International Telephone and Telegraph Corporation, Vice-President and Technical Director of the International Standard Electric Corporation, and Vice-Chairman of Standard Telecommunication Laboratories in Great Britain. In this period, he was personally active in research and development of switching systems, including the newer electronic types. Later, he was appointed Vice-President of International Standard Electric Corporation, President of the Laboratoire Central de Télécommunications, and President of Le Matériel Téléphonique. Dr. Deloraine continued as a Member of the Board of a number of ITT subsidiary companies. His native France has conferred many honors upon him including the following: Chevalier of the Legion of Honor, Officer of the Legion of Honor, Officer of Postal Merit, and Commander of National Merit.

Dr. Deloraine was a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and a Member of the Institution of Electrical Engineers in Great Britain. He also holds membership in several scientific societies in France. He has authored many technical papers and has over 75 patents in his name.

In 1945 Dr. Deloraine received a Certificate of Commendation from the U. S. Navy for his ability, foresight and leadership in developing electronic devices for Naval application.

Dr. Deloraine was married in 1927 to Micheline Flammarion, daughter of a well-known French publisher, and niece of the distinguished astronomer, Flammarion. They had three children and five grandchildren. The Deloraine family maintained a farm home in their ancestral village of Crairegoutte, antedating the French Revolution. This home, and the surrounding village, was extensively destroyed in World War II. Dr. Deloraine renovated not only the old homestead, but the entire village. For this, the grateful villagers elected him Mayor for six years.