Prepared to die: Andre Rossfelder played a key role defending his homeland of French Algeria during WWII’s Operation Torch.

Seventeen, tied to a post, firing squad ready, he was prepared to die for his country, but the fascists never fired.  Andre Rossfelder had dodged what seemed his inevitable demise. A life defining moment for many, for Andre it was just another scrape with death.

Question: What does a device considered to be the most effective technology to collect sediment cores and a bomb designed to assassinate President Charles de Gaulle have in common?

Answer: They were both the brainchildren of Andre Rossfelder.

The phone would ring.  A familiar, extremely confident voice with a strong French accent was on the other end.  It was Andre.  If there was a most interesting man in the world… I don’t think I would have chosen the actor from those Dos Equis beer commercials.  To me, Andre Rossfelder was “The Most Interesting Man in the World.”

Andre spent one of his lives in La Jolla, California.  It’s there he developed the electro-vibracore for collecting shallow and deep water sediment samples.  For Aqua Survey, using the Rossfelder was a game changer for reliably collecting sediment cores.  Goodbye Piston corer forever.

Aqua Survey purchased 11 vibracoring systems over the years, four directly from Andre along with an inflatable Rossfelder pontoon barge he used with Jacques Cousteau on many of his adventures.

Who was Andre Rossfelder?

He’s been called an Ideologist, Patriot, Marine Geologist, Novelist and Inventor, not to mention, depending on who you asked, an Assassin and Terrorist.

He was a complex and passionate individual.  Yet when you heard him speak so softly and lovingly about his wife whom he adored, it makes you ask the question.

Is this the same man that inspired the “The Day of the Jackal” movies?

How could this be the same man that was selected to assassinate President Charles de Gaulle? 

To get the rest of the story stay tuned…

Look for Part II on February 28.

In the meantime check out videos of us putting one of Andre’s inventions to work.