Emmanuel d'Astier de La Vigerie (9 January 1900 – 12 June 1969) was a French journalist, politician and member of the
French ResistanceThe French Resistance is the name used to denote the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy régime during World War II...
.
Biography
Born in Paris, he attended the Naval Academy, but resigned from the
French NavyThe French Navy, officially the Marine nationale and often called La Royale is the maritime arm of the French military. It includes a full range of fighting vessels, from patrol boats to a nuclear powered aircraft carrier and 10 nuclear-powered submarines, four of which are capable of launching...
in 1923. He became a journalist and a poet and was involved with the
integralistIntegralism, or Integral nationalism, is an ideology according to which a nation is an organic unity. Integralism defends social differentiation and hierarchy with co-operation between social classes, transcending conflict between social and economic groups...
and monarchist journal
Action FrançaiseThe Action Française , founded in 1898, is a French Monarchist counter-revolutionary movement and periodical founded by Maurice Pujo and Henri Vaugeois and whose principal ideologist was Charles Maurras...
, but turned towards the
LeftThe Left in France at the beginning of the 20th century was represented by two main political parties, the Republican, Radical and Radical-Socialist Party and the French Section of the Workers' International , created in 1905 as a merger of various Marxist parties...
after the
Spanish Civil WarThe Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
(1936–39).
When the Second World War broke out, d'Astier re-enlisted into the French Navy and became the head of naval intelligence. However, after the
fall of FranceIn the Second World War, the Battle of France was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries, beginning on 10 May 1940, which ended the Phoney War. The battle consisted of two main operations. In the first, Fall Gelb , German armoured units pushed through the Ardennes, to cut off and...
and the proclamation of
Vichy FranceVichy France, Vichy Regime, or Vichy Government, are common terms used to describe the government of France that collaborated with the Axis powers from July 1940 to August 1944. This government succeeded the Third Republic and preceded the Provisional Government of the French Republic...
, he was dismissed for his political dossier.
In
LyonLyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
, d'Astier joined a group of saboteurs and eventually formed the
Resistant groupThe French Resistance is the name used to denote the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy régime during World War II...
of
Libération-sudThe Libération-sud resistance group was established by a group of French people, including Emmanuel d'Astier, Lucie Aubrac and Raymond Aubrac. The first important Resistant group to emerge after the German occupation, it began publishing Libération in July 1941...
with
Raymond AubracRaymond Aubrac is a French engineer, and was a member of the French Resistance.Born Raymond Samuel in Vesoul, Haute-Saône in a Jewish family, Aubrac and wife, Lucie in 1940 were in the Resistance in Lyon and took pseudonym Aubrac to escape the persecution of the occupation...
and
Jean CavaillesJean Cavaillès , was a French philosopher and mathematician, specialized in philosophy of science. He took part in the French Resistance within the Libération movement and was shot by the Gestapo on February 17, 1944....
. In July 1941 the group began to publish the underground newspaper
LibérationLibération is a French daily newspaper founded in Paris by Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge July in 1973 in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968. Originally a leftist newspaper, it has undergone a number of shifts during the 1980s and 1990s...
(or
Libération-Sud).
In 1942 d'Astier met with
Jean MoulinJean Moulin was a high-profile member of the French Resistance during World War II. He is remembered today as an emblem of the Resistance primarily due to his role in unifying the French resistance under de Gaulle and his courage and death at the hands of the Germans.-Before the war:Moulin was...
to discuss about unification of the Resistance and eventually joined forces into the
Conseil National de la RésistanceThe Conseil National de la Résistance or the National Council of the Resistance is the body that directed and coordinated the different movements of the French Resistance - the press, trade unions, and members of political parties hostile to the Vichy regime, starting from...
(CNR, National Council of Resistance). In 1943 he met
Charles de GaulleCharles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....
in
Algiers' is the capital and largest city of Algeria. According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630. In 2009, the population was about 3,500,000...
and joined his
Free French ForcesThe Free French Forces were French partisans in World War II who decided to continue fighting against the forces of the Axis powers after the surrender of France and subsequent German occupation and, in the case of Vichy France, collaboration with the Germans.-Definition:In many sources, Free...
government-in-exile as a Commissioner to the Interior.
While in London in 1943, he wrote the lyrics for the song
La complainte du partisan"The Partisan" is a song about the French Resistance in World War II. The song was written in 1943 in London by Anna Marly and Emmanuel d'Astier de la Vigerie...
, (known in English translation as
The Partisan"The Partisan" is a song about the French Resistance in World War II. The song was written in 1943 in London by Anna Marly and Emmanuel d'Astier de la Vigerie...
(recorded by
Leonard CohenLeonard Norman Cohen, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, poet and novelist. Cohen published his first book of poetry in Montreal in 1956 and his first novel in 1963. His work often explores religion, isolation, sexuality and interpersonal relationships...
,
Joan BaezJoan Chandos Baez is an American folk singer, songwriter, musician and a prominent activist in the fields of human rights, peace and environmental justice....
, and doubtless many others)).
After the Liberation, d'Astier became Minister of Interior in the
Provisional Government of the French RepublicThe Provisional Government of the French Republic was an interim government which governed France from 1944 to 1946, following the fall of Vichy France and prior to the Fourth French Republic....
(GPRF). He continued to publish
Libération and wrote books based on his experiences. He ran on a
French Communist PartyThe French Communist Party is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism.Although its electoral support has declined in recent decades, the PCF retains a large membership, behind only that of the Union for a Popular Movement , and considerable influence in French...
platform in the elections of 1946 , and won a seat in the
National AssemblyThe French National Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of France under the Fifth Republic. The upper house is the Senate ....
for
Ille-et-VilaineIlle-et-Vilaine is a department of France, located in the region of Brittany in the northwest of the country.- History :Ille-et-Vilaine is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
. In 1958 he received the
Lenin Peace PrizeThe International Lenin Peace Prize was the Soviet Union's equivalent to the Nobel Peace Prize, named in honor of Vladimir Lenin. It was awarded by a panel appointed by the Soviet government, to notable individuals whom the panel indicated had "strengthened peace among peoples"...
. D'Astier was one of the founders of the Stockholm Committee; he denounced the
Soviet UnionThe Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
leadership under
Nikita KhrushchevNikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...
after the crushing of the
Hungarian uprisingThe Hungarian Revolution or Uprising of 1956 was a spontaneous nationwide revolt against the government of the People's Republic of Hungary and its Soviet-imposed policies, lasting from 23 October until 10 November 1956....
, and broke ties with communists.
His brother,
Henri d'Astier de la VigerieHenri d'Astier de La Vigerie was a French soldier, Résistance member, and conservative politician.-Life:Henri d'Astier was born in Villedieu-sur-Indre, a small village in the Indre département of central France...
, was from the far right, and, initially a member of the
Action Française, may even have been involved with the
CagouleLa Cagoule , officially called Comité secret d'action révolutionnaire , was a violent French fascist-leaning and anti-communist group, active in the 1930s, and designed to attempt the overthrow of the French Third Republic...
terrorist group. Ultimately, Henri d'Astier also took part in the Resistance.
Emmanuel d'Astier died in Paris in 1969. His wife Liubov was the second spouse of French politician Gaston Bergery (divorced in 1928) and the daughter of Bolshevik
Leonid KrasinLeonid Borisovich Krasin July 1870, Kurgan – November 24, 1926) was a Russian and Soviet Bolshevik politician and diplomat.-Early years:Krasin was born in Kurgan, near Tobol'sk in Siberia. His father, Boris Ivanovich Krasin was the local chief of police...
. They had three sons Jean Francois, Christophe and Jérôme.
Family friend
Joan BaezJoan Chandos Baez is an American folk singer, songwriter, musician and a prominent activist in the fields of human rights, peace and environmental justice....
wrote and recorded a song, "Luba the Baroness", about learning of the death of the oldest son, Jean-Francois.