Early Years and Education
Papon was born in Gretz-Armainvilliers, Seine-et-Marne, the son of a solicitor-turned-industrialist and his wife. His father was elected mayor of Gretz in 1919, when Papon was nine years old, and held that office until 1937. He was also local representative (conseiller général) of Tournan-en-Brie and president of the council of this canton in 1937.
Maurice Papon studied at the Lycée Louis-le-Grand in Paris. Fellow students at the elite school were Georges Pompidou (later President of France) and René Brouillet (who was part of Charles de Gaulle's cabinet after the war). Papon entered Sciences-Po, the specialty university for future civil servants and politicians, and studied law, psychology and sociology.
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