André Trương Trọng Thi

Considered to be the "father of the personal computer," Trương Trọng Thi created the Micral microcomputer in 1973—two years before the debut of the famed Altair—based on an Intel 8008 processor, the genetic ancestor from which all PC generations have followed.

He was born in 1936 in Cholon (Saigon) and when he was 14 years old, he arrived in France to study, and later studied at the École Française de Radioélectricité (now EFREI). After working for Schlumberger and Intertechnique for some time, he formed the company R2E (Réalisation d'Études Électroniques) in 1971. In 1973, thanks to François Gernelle and a team of engineers, his company created the Micral, the first non-kit, microprocessor-based personal computer in the world. It was created two years before the MITS Altair of Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems arrived on the market.

In 1981, R2E was absorbed by Groupe Bull. The Micral computers were turned into a line of PC-compatibles in 1983. André Trương Trọng Thi resigned from Bull and joined the company Normerel, formed by J. R. Tissot, a former member of R2E management. He developed the Oplite personal computer for Normerel, and by 1988 Normerel was the third French computer maker after Groupe Bull and SMT Goupil.

In 1995, Trương Trọng Thi formed the France-based Advanced PC Technologies (APCT), a software company specializing in cryptography. This company spawned another paradigm-breaking variation by creating the first network PC—the NPC 97. In 1988, he was awarded the French government's Technical Education Gold Medal for bringing PC technology into French schools, and in 1999, he was awarded the Légion d'honneur.