Abbé Pierre (1912-) was born as Henri Grouès in Lyon on August 5 1912, and is the French founder of the Emmaüs movement which has the goal of helping poor and homeless people, and refugees. He was ordained in 1938.
His pseudonym dates from his work with the French resistance during the Second World War, when he operated under several different names.
Emmaüs was started in 1949. Abbé Pierre has also the distinction of having been voted France's most popular person for many years, and in (2003) he beat a footballer into second place. Besides founding Emmaüs, he has also been somewhat controversial and has aroused of anti-semitism, though he denies this saying that he is only interested in the truth. He is a friend of the author Roger Garaudy.
