Jean Ferré was a French art historian and far-right journalist. He was also the founder of the Paris-based
Radio CourtoisieRadio Courtoisie is a French radio station and cultural associative union created in 1987 by Jean Ferré. Serge de Beketch was also among its founders....
in 1987.
Early years
From 1942 Ferré performed his secondary stodies at the
Collège Saint-Stanislas in
PoitiersPoitiers is a city on the Clain river in west central France. It is a commune and the capital of the Vienne department and of the Poitou-Charentes region. The centre is picturesque and its streets are interesting for predominant remains of historical architecture, especially from the Romanesque...
, a Jesuit school. After his baccalaureate, he undertook
mathélem, then studied in the
École spéciale de mécanique et d'électricité. He did not finish his studies. Towards the end of 1945, he constructed a short-wave
transceiverA transceiver is a device comprising both a transmitter and a receiver which are combined and share common circuitry or a single housing. When no circuitry is common between transmit and receive functions, the device is a transmitter-receiver. The term originated in the early 1920s...
with double frequency change and lamps. This taste for radio was to last his whole life.
In 1949, Ferré became an amateur radio licensee with callsign F9OV. He frequently contacted K2UN, an American enthusiast better known as
Barry GoldwaterBarry Morris Goldwater was a five-term United States Senator from Arizona and the Republican Party's nominee for President in the 1964 election. An articulate and charismatic figure during the first half of the 1960s, he was known as "Mr...
, who would later run unsuccessfully for President of the United States of America. K2UN was broadcasting from the roof of the UN building with highly effective equipment; he was always surprised to achieve contact with Ferré, who only had a 10-watt emittor. When K2UN came to France, Ferré asked to meat him – the former remembered their contact. for Barry Goldwater, Ferré was "Mister 10 watts".
First steps in journalism
In 1952, Jean Ferré crossed the
Rio de OroRío de Oro , is, with Saguia el-Hamra, one of the two territories that formed the Spanish province of Spanish Sahara after 1969; it was originally taken as a Spanish colonial possession in the late 19th century...
with a friend, and paid a visit to the forbidden city of
SmaraSmara, also Semara , is a city in the Moroccan-Administered Western Sahara, with a population estimated at 42,056.-History:The largest city in its province, Smara was founded in the Saguia el-Hamra as an oasis for travellers in 1869. It is the only major city in Western Sahara that was not founded...
. He would report this adventure in
Au désert interdit (to the forbidden desert). In the same year, Ferré developed a great friendship with Bernard Grasset; for two years, they had dinner together almost every night. It was Grasset who engendered Ferré's appreciation of
Henry de MontherlantHenry de Montherlant or Henry Marie Joseph Frédéric Expedite Millon de Montherlant was a French essayist, novelist and one of the leading French dramatists of the twentieth century.- Works :...
's work.
In early 1956, Ferré participated in the weekly magazine
Notre Époque, created at the behest of Catholic investors with the intention of it being a right-wing counterweight to
la Vie Catholique illustrée. It ceased to appear, however, after five months. In June of the same year, he created the monthly news magazine
C'est-à-dire. The editorial line was staunchly right-wing; the format was based on Time Magazine. Participants in the creation of
C'est-à-dire were the historian Jean-François Chiappe, Jean-Luc de Carbuccia, and another man of the theatre, Jacques Hébertot.
C'est-à-dire also benefited from the support and friendship of
Louis PauwelsLouis Pauwels was a French journalist and writer.- Biography :Louis Pauwels was a teacher at Athis-Mons from 1939 to 1945 , Louis Pauwels wrote in many monthly literary French magazines as early as 1946 until the...
and the participation of Nicole de Buron.
Ferré and Algeria – the Spanish exile
Jean Ferré was a supporter of
Algérie française. On this point he was in disagreement with de Gaulle. He had demanded that his team avoid polemics; however, Jean-François Chiappe wrote an article aggressively calling de Gaulle into question, describing him as a "paranoiac" with "intermittent delirium". The magazine was seized. Ferré continued for some time to publish it in the form of a confidential letter, which was itself seized in turn. In late 1960, Ferré paid a visit to
General SalanRaoul Albin Louis Salan was a French Army general and the fourth French commanding general during the First Indochina War. Salan was one of four generals who organized the 1961 Algiers Putsch operation and then founded the Organisation de l'armée secrète....
who had fled to Spain. From this time onward, they would be collaborators. On 19 or 20 April 1961, it was Ferré who informed Salan of the plan for the Algiers putsch of 1961. This relationship made Ferré a wanted man, and he went underground.
In late September 1961, wanted for his participation in the putsch, for his support of the
Organisation armée secrèteThe Organisation de l'armée secrète was a short-lived, French far-right nationalist militant and underground organization during the Algerian War . The OAS used armed struggle in an attempt to prevent Algeria's independence...
and for offending the head of state, de Gaulle, Ferré was stopped and brought to the
prison de la Santé, where he began a
hunger strikeA hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance or pressure in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke feelings of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most hunger strikers will take liquids but not...
. He was then given the status of
interné administratif (administrative detainee) according to the formula of
Roger FreyRoger Frey was a French politician. He was Minister of the Interior and president of the Constitutional Council of France.-Monokini prosecution:...
, the interior minister of the time, which applied to a suspect who had not yet been brought to trial. Under this provision, Ferré was imprisoned in the Saint-Maurice-l'Ardoise military camp in
Saint-Laurent-des-ArbresSaint-Laurent-des-Arbres is a commune in the Gard department in southern France.-Population:-References:*...
in the
Gard departmentGard is a département located in southern France in the Languedoc-Roussillon region.The department is named after the River Gard, although the formerly Occitan name of the River Gard, Gardon, has been replacing the traditional French name in recent decades, even among French speakers.- History...
.
In 1962, he was freed, but faced a new threat from French justice. However, Judge Schweig rescued him from immediate arrest and from the penalty of 10 years imprisonment which had already been set out for him; thanks to which he avoided a trial and went into exile in Spain, where he associated with prominent
FranquistFrancisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...
s, notably including the
caudillos own sister. He also built a friendship with the first president of the senate of democratic Spain, Antonio FontanAntonio Fontán Pérez was a journalist who fought for press freedom and was later elected to the Spanish Senate as a member of the Unión de Centro Democrático coalition party in the first democratic general elections since the ending of the Francisco Franco regime which were held in June 1977. He...
. He was productive in MadridMadrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, particular in his work on WatteauJean-Antoine Watteau was a French painter whose brief career spurred the revival of interest in colour and movement...
which would be published in 1972.
Figaro Magazine
On returning to France, Ferré got back with his old friends from C’est-à-dire
. He resumed his journalistic activities, notably as a radio and television columnist at Le FigaroLe Figaro is a French daily newspaper founded in 1826 and published in Paris. It is one of three French newspapers of record, with Le Monde and Libération, and is the oldest newspaper in France. It is also the second-largest national newspaper in France after Le Parisien and before Le Monde, but...
, and subsequently Figaro Magazine
, of which he was a founder with Pauwels.
Radio Solidarité and Radio Courtoisie
In September 1981, Bernadette d'Angevilliers and Philippe MalaudPhilippe Malaud was a French diplomat and politician. He graduated from the École nationale d'administration in 1956. From 1968 until 1978, he was a member of the Independent Republicans....
, former minister under 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....
and Georges PompidouGeorges Jean Raymond Pompidou was a French politician. He was Prime Minister of France from 1962 to 1968, holding the longest tenure in this position, and later President of the French Republic from 1969 until his death in 1974.-Biography:...
, created Radio Solidarité
, with the support of Yannick Urrien. This free radio station had associations with Rassemblement pour la République
and with the Union pour la démocratie française
and was strongly opposed to the political left of François MitterrandFrançois Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand was the 21st President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra, serving from 1981 until 1995. He is the longest-serving President of France and, as leader of the Socialist Party, the only figure from the left so far elected President...
. Thanks to his radio columns, which were favourable to Radio Solidarité
, Ferré was noticed by d'Angevilliers, who proposed that he collaborate with them.
In May and June 1982, Ferré created the broadcast formula of the Libre Journal: an hour and a half programme each evening based around a guest belonging to the political right. Ferré proposed that the radio should be open to "all people of the right"; pursuant to this,
Serge de BeketchSerge André Yourevitch Verebrussoff de Beketch was a French journalist, story writer for cartoons and writer linked to the extreme-right...
was invited to direct a regular Wednesday evening broadcast. However, following the 1984 European elections, de Beketch exposed the radio station to the accusation of having helped the political breakthrough of the Front National
. De Beketch was ordered to leave; Ferré sought to defend de Beketch and was also dismissed.
At that point Ferré created the "Radio Solidarité
listeners' defense committee" (CDARS). It was under this name, declared to the Paris police prefecture on 12 December 1985, that he founded Radio Courtoisie
(courtoisie
means courtesyCourtesy comes from old french 'courteis' is gentle politeness and courtly manners. In the Middle Ages in Europe, the behaviour expected of the gentry was compiled in courtesy books...
). Radio Courtoisie
made its first broadcast on the 7 November 1987.
From this day until the end of his life, led Radio Courtoisie
devoting all his time to it. Every Monday evening he hosted in person a Libre Journal
without interruption until 31 July 1996, the date of his last broadcast.
He died on 10 October 2006 following renal cancer.
Positions
Ferré always asserted his opposition to what he called pensée uniqueThe expression "pensée unique" describes the claimed supremacy of neoliberalism as an ideology.-Concept and background understanding:...
and to the ideology of political correctnessPolitical correctness is a term which denotes language, ideas, policies, and behavior seen as seeking to minimize social and institutional offense in occupational, gender, racial, cultural, sexual orientation, certain other religions, beliefs or ideologies, disability, and age-related contexts,...
. Being himself aligned with Charles MaurrasCharles-Marie-Photius Maurras was a French author, poet, and critic. He was a leader and principal thinker of Action Française, a political movement that was monarchist, anti-parliamentarist, and counter-revolutionary. Maurras' ideas greatly influenced National Catholicism and "nationalisme...
, Ferré was sympathetic to royaltyA royal family is the extended family of a king or queen regnant. The term imperial family appropriately describes the extended family of an emperor or empress, while the terms "ducal family", "grand ducal family" or "princely family" are more appropriate to describe the relatives of a reigning...
and advocated traditionalist Catholicism. He continually expressed his desire to defend French language and civilisation. Firmly on the right, he presented himself as anti-communist. In this context, Radio Courtoisie could have been conceived by him as a means of advancing his ideas. As he himself asserted on air, he hoped to "rally all patriots" and reconcile all Frenchmen.
Ferré willingly defined himself as a
humanistHumanism is an approach in study, philosophy, world view or practice that focuses on human values and concerns. In philosophy and social science, humanism is a perspective which affirms some notion of human nature, and is contrasted with anti-humanism....
. Thus he condemned vigorously the murderous violence of all
totalitarianismTotalitarianism is a political system where the state recognizes no limits to its authority and strives to regulate every aspect of public and private life wherever feasible...
, that of
HitlerAdolf 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...
and of
NazismNazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
but also that of
StalinJoseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
and communism. Defending a Christian conception of the right to life, he was as opposed to the death penalty as he was to voluntary termination of pregnancy. On many occasions he invited on air Professor
Jérôme LejeuneServant of God Jérôme Jean Louis Marie Lejeune was a French Catholic pro-life paediatrician and geneticist, best known for his discovery of the link of diseases to chromosome abnormalities...
and representatives of his group Fondation Jérôme Lejeune.
Alain Decaux on Ferré
Works
- Au désert interdit, 1st edition: A. Bonne, Paris, 1954 [pagination non connue]. Reedition in facsimile (with a preface by General de Boisboissel and a postscript by the author): L'Âge d'Homme, Lausanne et Paris, 2000, 235 p. + 12 p. de planches ISBN 2-8251-1375-1
- Watteau
Jean-Antoine Watteau was a French painter whose brief career spurred the revival of interest in colour and movement...
(4 volumes), Éditions Athena, 1972
- Lettre ouverte à un amateur d'art pour lui vendre la mèche, Albin Michel, coll. Lettre ouverte, Paris, 1974, 214 p. ISBN 2-226-00139-5
- Vie et œuvre de Jean-Antoine Watteau
Jean-Antoine Watteau was a French painter whose brief career spurred the revival of interest in colour and movement...
, Éditions de Vergennes, coll. "A l'école des grands peintres" No. 2 (sous la direction de Gilles Néret), Paris, 1980, 56 p.
- Watteau
Jean-Antoine Watteau was a French painter whose brief career spurred the revival of interest in colour and movement...
: 60 chefs-d'œuvre (with preface by Jean GuittonJean Guitton was a French Catholic philosopher and theologian.-Biography:Born in Saint-Étienne, Loire, he studied at the Lycée du Parc in Lyon and was accepted at the École normale supérieure in Paris. His principal religious and intellectual influence was from a blind priest, Francois Pouget...
and postscript by Alain DecauxAlain Decaux was born on 23 July 1925 in Lille, France. A historian by profession, he was elected to the Académie française on 15 February 1979.-Bibliography:* 1947 * 1949 ...
), Éditions Viloe, Paris, 1984, 68 p. ISBN 2-7191-0223-7
- Fidèle au poste: journal d'un critique 1978–1986, Albin Michel, Paris, 1986, 382 p. ISBN 2-226-02531-6
Reactions to Ferré's death
External links
Jean Ferré in Jacques Chancel's programme Radioscopie in 1975, on the occasion of the release of his book "Lettre ouverte à un amateur d'Art pour lui vendre la mèche
" Homage to Ferré's work by Jean des Cars, for the second anniversary of his death F9OV, Ferré's ham radio call sign