| René Petitbon | |
| Office2: | Governor of French Polynesia |
| Term2: | 1950–1954 |
| Predecessor2: | Armand Anziani |
| Successor2: | Jean-François Toby |
| Office1: | Governor of French Somaliland |
| Term1: | 1954–1957 |
| Predecessor1: | Georges-Pierre Rey |
| Successor1: | André-Jean-Gaston Latrille |
| Office3: | Prefect of Constantine |
| Term3: | 1945–1949 |
| Predecessor3: | André Lestrade-Carbonnel |
| Successor3: | Maurice Papon |
| Office4: | Prefect of Aube |
| Term4: | 1944–1945 |
| Predecessor4: | Pierre Blanchet |
| Successor4: | Pierre-Henry Rix |
| Birth Date: | 18 August 1902 |
| Birth Place: | Pau, France |
| Death Place: | Paris, France |
René Jean Albert Petitbon (18 August 1902 – 2 February 1965)[1] was a French colonial administrator who served as Governor of French Polynesia and French Somaliland in the 1950s.
Petitbon was born in Pau in 1902.[1] After earning a Bachelor of the Arts in 1923, he completed his military service between 1925 and 1926. He then taught in lycées in Saint-Étienne and Clermont-Ferrand until joining the Alsatian Bank Society in 1928.[2] He became deputy director for the Haut-Rhin region in 1935 and then served as director general of the Banques Populaire of the North Paris region from 1937 until 1944.[2]
A member of the resistance during the Nazi occupation, he was appointed prefect of Aube in 1944. The following year he relocated to Algeria to become prefect of Constantine, a role he held until 1949. He then became Inspector General of Administrative Affairs in French West Africa.[2] He was appointed Governor of French Polynesia in 1950, remaining in post until 1954 when he was appointed Governor of French Somaliland.[3] He served in French Somaliland until 1957, and later worked in Algeria again between 1961 and 1962.[2]
He died in Paris in 1965 at the age of 62.[3]