Maurice Pujo

Maurice Pujo
Born	(1872-01-26)26 January 1872 Lorrez-le-Bocage-Préaux,Seine-et-Marne, France
Died	6 September 1955(1955-09-06)(aged 83)
Nationality	French
Occupation	Journalist
Known for	Co-founder ofAction Française

Maurice Pujo(French:[mɔʁispyʒo,moʁ-];26 January 1872 – 6 September 1955) was a French journalist and co-founder of the nationalist and monarchistAction Françaisemovement. He became the leader of theCamelots du Roi,the youth organization of the Action Française which took part in many right-wing demonstrations in the years beforeWorld War II(1939–45). After World War II he was imprisoned forcollaborationistactivity.

Life

Early years

Maurice Pujo was born on 26 January 1872.His family was Catholic and royalist.Pujo studied at thelycéeinOrléansat the same time asCharles Péguy.When he was eighteen he won a prize for an essay onSpinoza's moral philosophy.He expected to make a career as a literary critic.He launched the journalLa Revue jeune,later renamedL’Art et la Vie,which lasted for a few years.He was fluent in German, very interested in German culture and an ardent follower ofRichard Wagner.In 1894 he published his first book,Le règne de la grâce,an essay inspired by the philosophy of the German philosopherNovalisthat was praised by the Socialist leaderJean Jaurès.He visited Germany as a student in the 1890s. The experience turned him against German influence and made him a French nationalist.

Anti-Dreyfusard

In April 1898, at the height of theDreyfus affair,the circle of leftist intellectuals to which Pujo belonged became supporters ofAlfred Dreyfus.Maurice Pujo andHenri Vaugeoisleft this group.Late in 1898 Vaugeois, Pujo and a few other nationalists who met at theCafé de Florefounded theComité d'action française(Committee of French Action).Three of this group,Louis Dausset,Gabriel Syvetonand Vaugeois, opposed to theLeague for the Rights of Manand Dreyfus, launched a petition that attackedÉmile Zolaand what many saw as an internationalist, pacifist left-wing conspiracy.In November 1898 their petition gained signatures in the Parisian schools, and was soon circulated throughout political, intellectual and artistic circles in Paris.

On 19 December 1898 Pujo published an article that first used the termL’Action française(French Action) in the daily paperL’Éclairin which he declared that the dispute over Dreyfus was damaging France's vital interests, and called for maintenance of the traditions of the homeland.He said the purpose of theAction françaiseshould be "to remake France, republican and free, into a State as organized at home, as powerful abroad, as it was under theAncien Régime."The decision to create the nationalist anti-DreyfusardLigue de la patrie française(League of the French Homeland) was made on 31 December 1898.TheComité d'action françaisewas soon merged into the League, which was led byJules Lemaître.

Action Française

The circle around Vaugeois soon became disillusioned with the League, which lacked any clear doctrine. Vaugeois disagreed with Lemaître's plan to participate in the next legislative elections. TheComité d'action françaisewas recreated in April 1899, and the foundational conference of theAction Françaisemovement was held on 20 June 1899 in Paris. In his keynote speech at this meeting Vaugeois declared that the movement stood for "anti-Semitic, anti-Masonic, anti-parliamentary and anti-democratic" nationalism.Charles Maurrassoon joined the Action Française.Maurras thought the Bourbon monarchy should be restored, using violence if needed.Pujo came to agree with Maurras.He wrote later, "Under the mortal blows of Charles Maurras, the republicanism of each of us succumbed one by one in this year, 1900, which was the year of thehegirafor the Action Francaise. "

On 16 November 1908Lucien Moreauand Maurice Pujo created theCamelots du Roiyouth movement.Maxime Real del Sartewas a co-founder. In the autumn of 1908 Pujo led theCamelotsin a series of nationalist demonstrations ostensibly against a Sorbonne student named Thalamas who had insultedJoan of Arc.He remained director of theCamelotsfrom 1908 to 1939.DuringWorld War I(1914–18) Pujo was called up and served on the front.In 1920 Pujo said the Sorbonne was still dangerously infatuated with German culture, and was infiltrated by "foreigners, spies, Jews and Bolsheviks." He called for dismissal of faculty members who he thought were pro-German such asVictor Basch,Charles SeignobosandAulard.He continued to lead demonstrations by the Camelots du Roi into the 1930s, notably the demonstrations about theStavisky Affairof January and February 1934.

DuringWorld War II(1939–45) when the Germans occupied France Pujo stayed with Maurras inLyon.AfterLéon Daudetdied in 1942 Pujo was made co-director of the dailyAction Française.He was imprisoned by the Gestapo for three weeks in June 1944. In January 1945 Pujo and Maurras were tried for collaboration and Pujo was sentenced to five years in prison. He was released in October 1947. He then became political director ofAspects de la Franceuntil his death on 6 September 1955.Pujo has been called "a kind of exalted flunky and right-hand man for Maurras."

Pujo's son,Pierre PujoledAction Françaiseuntil his death on 10 November 2007.

Works

• Le Règne de la Grâce(1894).
• Après l’Affaire(1898).
• Essais de Critique Générale de la Crise Générale(1898).
• Contre la Classe de Philosophie de l'Enseignement Secondaire(1899).
• Les Nuées(1908).
• Les Cadres de la Démocratie. Pourquoi l’on a Étouffé l’Affaire Valensi?(1912).
• La Politique du Vatican(1928).
• Comment Rome s’est Trompée. L’Aggression Contre l’Esprit(1929).
• La Guerre et l’Homme(1932).
• Les Camelots du Roi(1933).
• La Veillée(1934).
• Le Problème de l’Union(1937).
• Comment La Rocque a Trahi(1938).
• Charles Maurras et Maurice Pujo devant la Cour de Justice du Rhône les 24, 25, 26 et 27 janvier 1945(5 vols., 1945).
• L’Action Française Contre l’Allemagne. Mémoire au Juge d’Instruction(1946).
• Au Grand Juge de France. Requête en Révision d’un Arrêt de Cour de Justice(withCharles Maurras,1949).
• Vérité, Justice, Patrie. Pour Réveiller le Grand Juge. Seconde Enquête en Révision d’un Arrêt de Cour de Justice(withCharles Maurras,1951).

Sources

• Cépoy, Jacques (Spring 1999),"Maurice Pujo",L'Action Française 2000 - Numéro hors-série(in French), archived fromthe originalon 2016-03-03,retrieved2016-03-09
• Conner, Tom (2014-04-24),The Dreyfus Affair and the Rise of the French Public Intellectual,McFarland,ISBN978-0-7864-7862-0,retrieved2016-03-08
• Curtis, Michael (2015-12-08),Three Against the Third Republic: Sorel, Barres and Maurras,Princeton University Press,ISBN978-1-4008-7928-1,retrieved2016-03-09
• d'Appollonia, Ariane Chebel (1998-12-01),L'extrême-droite en France: De Maurras à Le Pen,Editions Complexe,ISBN978-2-87027-764-5,retrieved2016-03-08
• Ferri, Laurent (2008-02-05),"Lucien Moreau (1872–1935)",Jewish Identities: Nationalism, Racism, and Utopianism in Twentieth-Century Music(in French), University of California Press,ISBN978-0-520-25088-8,retrieved2017-09-08
• Hanna, Martha (1996),The Mobilization of Intellect: French Scholars and Writers During the Great War,Harvard University Press,ISBN978-0-674-57755-8,retrieved2016-03-09
• Nickerson, Hoffman (October 1935), "French Royalism",The American Review,5(5)
• Osgood, Samuel M. (2013-11-21),French Royalism Since 1870,Springer,ISBN978-94-017-5071-4,retrieved2016-03-09
• Pierrard, Pierre (1998),Les Chrétiens et l'affaire Dreyfus,Editions de l'Atelier,ISBN978-2-7082-3390-4,retrieved2016-03-07
• Weber, Eugen (1962),Action Française: Royalism and Reaction in Twentieth Century France,Stanford University Press,ISBN978-0-8047-0134-1,retrieved2016-03-09

Further reading

• Weber, Eugen (1962).Action Française: Royalism and Reaction in Twentieth Century France.Stanford University Press.