Gaston Thubé

Gaston Thubé was the eldest son of the Nantes shipowner of the same name, who introduced his sons to sailing in Brittany. In 1900, he married Madeleine Marie Célestine Goullin, daughter of the Consul of Belgium in Nantes, following his father-in-law in this position in 1907. In 1933, he inherited the Château Saint-Marc-sur-Mer in Saint-Nazaire, which had been built in 1880 by his father.

Thubé was an industrialist in Paris but remained very involved in the economic life in the Nantes region throughout his life beginning with the family owned Calvé-Delft oil mill. He then became manager of the Nantes slaughterhouse and of the Crédit Nantais, as well as president of the Ateliers de Doulon in Nantes and member of the board of directors of the Industrial Commercial and Agricultural Association of the West.

He also became managing director of the Nouvelle Société Commerciale Africaine. Together with his brother Jacques, in 1935 he took over the management of the Bolloré factories after the death of his sister Marie’s husband René. In this position, he was also vice-president of the Syndicate of the cigarette paper industry. In his final years he lived in Paris.

Together with his younger brothers Jacques and Amédée he won the first sailing gold for France at the 1912 Olympic Games in the 6 metres class. In the duel of the Danish Nurdug II and the French Mac Miche with Gaston Thubé at the helm, the two yachts tied after two races. In the match-race for gold, Mac Miche won convincingly by almost three minutes to claim gold. The owners of the yacht were Thubé and the industrialist Marie Joseph Adrien GustaveFitau (1876-1944) from Nantes. It was designed by the civil engineer and self-taught boat designer Talma Bertrand (1872-1954). His original plans are still kept at the Musée des Ducs de Bretagne in Nantes. Gaston Thubé was later elected president of his club, the Sport Nautique de l’Ouest.

Besides sailing, Thubé was also a member of the Archaeological and Historical Society of Nantes and Loire-Atlantique.