text: lazare ponticelli lazare ponticelli ( born lazzaro ponticelli , 24 december 1897 , later as 7 december – 12 march 2008 ) , knight of vittorio veneto , was at 110 , the last surviving officially recognized veteran of the first world war from france and the last of its trenches to die . born in italy , he travelled on his own to france at the age of eight . aged 16 , he lied about his age in order to join the french army at the start of the war in 1914 , before being transferred against his will to the italian army the following year . after the war , he and his brothers founded the piping and metal work company ponticelli frères ( ponticelli brothers ) , which produced supplies for the second world war effort and as of 2009 was still in business . ponticelli was the oldest living man of italian birth and the oldest man living in france at the time of his death . every armistice day until 2007 he attended ceremonies honoring deceased veterans . in his later years , he criticized war , and stored his awards from the first world war in a shoe box . while he felt unworthy of the state funeral the french government offered him , he eventually accepted one . however , he asked that the procession emphasise the common soldiers who died on the battlefield . french president nicolas sarkozy honored his wish and dedicated a plaque to them at the procession . early life born as lazzaro ponticelli in , a frazione ( civil parish ) in , piacenza , emilia - romagna , in northern italy , he was raised in the mountain hamlet of i , one of seven children born to jean and ponticelli . his father sold livestock on the fairgrounds and occasionally worked as a carpenter and cobbler . his mother cultivated the family 's small plot of land and , like many women of the area , commuted three times a year to the po valley to work in its rice fields . despite the ponticelli family 's hard work , they were impoverished and the children often went to bed on an empty stomach . when lazare was two years of age , his mother moved to france to earn a better living . after the unexpected deaths of jean ponticelli and his eldest son , pierre , the rest of the family moved to paris , leaving lazare in the care of neighbors . at age six , ponticelli started several jobs , including making clogs . by 1906 , aged eight years old , he had saved enough money to buy a railway ticket to paris , which he considered " paradise . " to travel to the capital of france , he walked 21 miles ( 34 km ) to the nearest train station at piacenza . he could not speak french , but found work as a chimney sweep in nogent - sur - marne and later as a paper boy in paris . he obtained a work permit at age 13 . world war i in august 1914 , aged 16 , shortly after the outbreak of world war i , ponticelli was assigned to the 4th marching regiment of the 1st foreign regiment of the french foreign legion . he had lied about his age to enlist . he rediscovered his older brother , céleste ponticelli , who had joined the same regiment . according to ponticelli , france had done much for him , and serving was his way of showing his gratitude . he served at soissons in picardy , northeast france , and at douaumont , near verdun . ponticelli worked at digging burial pits and trenches . in keeping a promise to céleste to always assist others , he rescued a german and a french soldier who were wounded in the arm and leg , respectively . ponticelli was not a french citizen and in may 1915 , when italy entered the war , he was conscripted into the italian army . although he attempted to remain with his french regiment , he eventually enlisted in the 3rd alpini regiment , after being escorted to turin by two gendarmes . ponticelli saw service against the austro - hungarian army at mount piccolo on the austria – italy border . at his new post as a machine gunner , ponticelli was seriously wounded by a shell during an assault on an austrian mountain position . he was returned to his post after rest and recuperation in naples . in an undated interview , he described being injured : " blood was running into my eyes ... i continued firing despite my wound . " once , his regiment ceased fighting the austrians for three weeks . the armies , who mostly spoke each other 's tongue , swapped loaves of bread for tobacco and photographed each other . in 1918 ponticelli was gassed in an austrian attack that killed hundreds of his fellow soldiers . reflecting on war , he said : " you shoot at men who are fathers . war is completely stupid . " in one of his last interviews , ponticelli stated he was amazed at his own survival . ponticelli frères after being demobilized in 1920 , ponticelli founded a metal work company with céleste and bonfils , his youngest brother , which they called " ponticelli frères " ( " ponticelli brothers " ) . located in the 13th arrondissement of paris , it became profitable and well known in its field . it was incorporated as a private limited company in 1932 , when its primary work was with industrial chimneys . during the second world war , ponticelli , who became a french citizen in 1939 , was too old for combat but supported the war effort by supplying soldiers with his products . he moved his factory into an unoccupied zone when germany invaded and occupied france . after vichy france was taken over by the germans , he returned northwards and began working with the resistance . in the aftermath of world war ii , he added a piping department to his company . he continued managing the company until his retirement in 1960 . at the time of his death it was reported that the company had 4 , 000 employees and its annual revenue ( 2005 ) was € 300 million . the company now operates in several countries outside france , such as angola . later life until his death , ponticelli lived with his daughter in the paris suburb of le kremlin - bicêtre , and every 11 november until 2007 he attended armistice day ceremonies . an honored citizen of his adopted town , ponticelli voted in the 2007 presidential and legislative elections . he officially became a supercentenarian on 24 december 2007 , celebrating his official 110th birthday at the national history of immigration museum . he kept his war medals in a shoebox . when originally offered a state funeral by then french president jacques chirac , ponticelli asserted that he did not want one , although the death of the penultimate recognized soldier , [ b ] louis de , on 20 january 2008 caused him to reconsider . he eventually accepted a small ceremony " in the name of all those who died , men and women , " during world war i. death ponticelli died at 12 : 45 pm ( 11 : 45 gmt ) at his home in le kremlin - bicêtre on 12 march 2008 , aged 110 . at the time of his death , ponticelli was the oldest living man of italian birth and the oldest man living in france . nicolas sarkozy , the french president , released a statement and said there would be a day of national remembrance for the war dead of france . ponticelli was survived by at least one child , his then - 78 - year - old daughter , janine . his state funeral was held on 17 march 2008 . the mass was held at saint - louis cathedral in les invalides and was attended by government ministers , soldiers and members of ponticelli 's family . french academic max gallo delivered the eulogy . at the mass , french guillaume read a poem written by his class in ponticelli 's honor . flags were ordered to be flown at half mast while sarkozy unveiled a plaque dedicated to the veterans of world war i. legionnaires of the 3rd foreign infantry regiment , heir to the marching regiment of the french foreign legion , the same regiment that ponticelli fought in , carried his coffin at the funeral . after the procession , he was buried in his family 's plot at the ivry - sur - seine cemetery , located in the val - de - marne . legacy on 11 november 2008 , during the first armistice day since his death , rue de verdun in le kremlin - bicêtre was renamed rue de verdun - lazare - ponticelli .