The Saint-Denis Communist who demanded the popular front first and ended a fascist
In April 1934 he sent an open letter to the Comintern demanding immediate joint action with the Socialists. In June he was expelled; in July the party signed the very pact he had demanded
A metalworker from Saint-Denis who became a deputy at twenty-six and rose to the executive committee of the Comintern as one of the French Communist Party's young leaders. He was jailed for agitation against the Rif war, sent to China as a Comintern envoy in 1927, and elected mayor of Saint-Denis in 1931. Immediately after the February 1934 crisis he demanded, publicly and ahead of the party line, immediate joint action with the Socialists; he refused a summons to Moscow and was expelled on 27 June. A month later the party signed the very pact of unity of action he had called for, and he was already outside it. In 1936 he founded the Parti Populaire Français and moved toward fascism; in 1941 he helped create the Légion des Volontaires Français against Bolshevism and fought on the Eastern Front in German uniform; he was killed in Germany in February 1945 when Allied aircraft strafed his car.
Career Timeline
- 1898Born to a working-class family at Bresles in the Oise
- 1915–1922Metalworker at Saint-Denis; joins the Communist youth movement
- 1923–1924Leads the Communist Youth International; elected deputy in 1924
- 1925Jailed for agitation against the Rif war
- 1927Sent to China as a Comintern envoy
- 1931–1937Mayor of Saint-Denis
- 1934.02–06Publicly demands joint action with the Socialists, refuses a summons to Moscow, expelled on 27 June
- 1936Founds the Parti Populaire Français
- 1941–1944Helps found the anti-Bolshevik French volunteer legion; serves on the Eastern Front in German uniform
- 1945.02Killed in Germany when Allied aircraft strafe his car