1909–1945
✕ Executed by firing squad
Fascist man of letters who led collaborationist and antisemitic agitation as editor of Je suis partout and was shot for it
His trial on 19 January 1945 lasted six hours, and after twenty minutes of deliberation he was sentenced to death. To the supporters protesting in the courtroom he answered, "It's an honour!" On 6 February he refused a blindfold and was shot.
Born in Perpignan and educated at the École Normale Supérieure, he wrote the literary column of the daily L'Action française until 1939, alongside novels and a history of the cinema. After 6 February 1934 he openly supported fascism, and in 1937 he became editor-in-chief of the weekly Je suis partout. Taken prisoner by the Germans in 1940, he returned in 1941 to his editorial post and used the paper to demand the death of former republican ministers such as Blum, Daladier and Mandel and to spread antisemitic agitation. He gave up the editorship in 1943. After the Liberation he was sentenced to death in January 1945 for intelligence with the enemy; despite a writers' petition de Gaulle refused a pardon, and he was shot at the fort of Montrouge on 6 February.
Activities and affiliations
Career Timeline
- 1909Born in Perpignan
- –1939Literary columnist of the daily L'Action française
- 1935Publishes his history of the cinema
- 1937.06–1943Editor-in-chief of the weekly Je suis partout
- 1940.06–1941.03Prisoner of war at the Oflag VI A in Soest
- 1943Visits the French volunteer legion on the Eastern Front and the Katyn site
- 1943.11–1944.07Editor-in-chief of La Chronique de Paris
- 1944.09Surrenders to the police after the Liberation; held at Fresnes
- 1945.01Sentenced to death for intelligence with the enemy
- 1945.02Shot at the fort of Montrouge after de Gaulle refuses a pardon