Fernand de Brinon
Encyclopedia
Fernand de Brinon, Marquis de Brinon (feʁnɑ̃ də bʁinɔ̃; August 26, 1885 – April 15, 1947) was a French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 lawyer and journalist who was one of the architects of French collaboration with the Nazis
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...

 during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. He claimed to have had five private talks with Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...

 between 1933 and 1937.

Born into a wealthy family in the city of Libourne
Libourne
Libourne is a commune in the Gironde department in Aquitaine in southwestern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.It is the wine-making capital of northern Gironde and lies near Saint-Émilion and Pomerol.-Geography:...

 in the Gironde
Gironde
For the Revolutionary party, see Girondists.Gironde is a common name for the Gironde estuary, where the mouths of the Garonne and Dordogne rivers merge, and for a department in the Aquitaine region situated in southwest France.-History:...

 département, Ferdinand de Brinon studied political science and law at university but chose to work as a journalist in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

. After World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, he advocated a rapprochement with Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

. He became friends with Joachim von Ribbentrop
Joachim von Ribbentrop
Ulrich Friedrich Wilhelm Joachim von Ribbentrop was Foreign Minister of Germany from 1938 until 1945. He was later hanged for war crimes after the Nuremberg Trials.-Early life:...

.

Ferdinand de Brinon married Jeanne Louise Rachel Franck
Lisette de Brinon
Lisette, Marquise de Brinon was best known as the Jewish wife of the pro-Nazi French collaborator, Fernand de Brinon....

, aka Lisette, the Jewish former wife of Claude Ullmann; she converted to Catholicism. By her Brinon had two stepsons.

The Brinons became leading socialites in 1930s Paris, and close friends of the political right-wing elite. A leading advocate for collaboration following France's defeat by Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, in July of 1940 Brinon was invited by Pierre Laval
Pierre Laval
Pierre Laval was a French politician. He was four times President of the council of ministers of the Third Republic, twice consecutively. Following France's Armistice with Germany in 1940, he served twice in the Vichy Regime as head of government, signing orders permitting the deportation of...

, Vice-Premier of the new Vichy regime, to act as its representative to the German High Command in occupied Paris. In 1942, Philippe Pétain
Philippe Pétain
Henri Philippe Benoni Omer Joseph Pétain , generally known as Philippe Pétain or Marshal Pétain , was a French general who reached the distinction of Marshal of France, and was later Chief of State of Vichy France , from 1940 to 1944...

, head of the Vichy regime, gave him the title of Secretary of State.

As the third ranking member of the Vichy regime and because of his enthusiastic support for the fascist cause, Brinon's importance to the Nazis was such that he was able to obtain a special pass for his Jewish-born wife that exempted her from deportation to a German concentration camp. With the march of the Allied Forces towards Paris in 1944, Brinon and his wife fled to Germany. There, Brinon became in September 1944 president of the French Governmental Commission, Vichy's government-in-exile. He was eventually arrested by the advancing Allied troops. He and his wife were both held in Fresnes prison
Fresnes Prison
Fresnes Prison is the second largest prison in France, located in the town of Fresnes, Val-de-Marne South of Paris...

 but she was eventually released.

Fernand de Brinon was tried
Épuration légale
The Épuration légale was the wave of official trials that followed the Liberation of France and the fall of the Vichy Regime...

 by the High Court of Justice
High Court of Justice
The High Court of Justice is, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, one of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...

 for war crimes, found guilty, and sentenced to death on March 6, 1947. He was executed by firing squad on April 15 at the military fort in the Paris suburb of Montrouge
Montrouge
Montrouge is a commune in the southern Parisian suburbs, located from the center of Paris, France. It is one of the most densely populated municipalities in Europe...

.

In 2002, French historian Gilbert Joseph published Fernand de Brinon : L'Aristocrate de la collaboration. In 2004, Bernard Ullmann, Lisette de Brinon's son from her first marriage, broke his 60-year silence and told his family's story in his book, Lisette de Brinon, Ma Mère.
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