Raoul Nordling
Raoul Nordling(French:[ʁaulnɔʁdliŋ],Swedish:[ˈrɑ̌ːʊlˈnûːɖlɪŋ];11 November 1882 – 1 October 1962) was a Swedish-French businessman anddiplomat.He was born inParisand spent most of his life there.
Biography
[edit]Nordling's father, Carl Gustav Nordling, arrived in Paris from Sweden at the end of the 1870s, and established the paper-paste firm "Gustav Nordling". Born in Paris, Raoul studied at theLycée Janson-de-Sailly,and then joined his father's company, eventually succeeding him at its helm.[1]He was appointed as Swedish vice-consulin Paris in 1905 at the age of 24, becoming consul in 1917 and consul-general in 1926, on the death of his father.
Although Nordling was Swedish by nationality, he felt himself to be above all a "citizen of Paris". He spoke French much more often than Swedish, having to virtually learn his national language when he went to Sweden as a young man to complete hismilitary service.
Throughout his working life, Nordling played an important role in mediating between Sweden and France, but he is best remembered for his efforts to mediate betweenFrenchandGerman forcesduring the occupation andLiberation of Parisduring theSecond World War.He played an important role in ensuringRed Crossaccess toprisoners of war,and during the uprising of theFrench resistancein August 1944 he negotiated with the German commander GeneralDietrich von Choltitz,to try to limit the bloodshed and damage to the city. Many accounts of these events attribute him a major role in doing so, and he was honoured by France after theLiberationwith the highest available medal, theCroix de Guerreavec palmein 1949. A play area in the11th Arrondissement,the "Square Raoul Nordling" is named in his honour, as is a street inNeuilly.He was named honorary citizen of the city of Paris in 1958 and the Grand Cross of theLegion of Honourin 1962.
He continued to play an active role in Parisian social life after the end of the war. He lived in a house called "Le Mas du Gay Savoir" inSainte-Maxime,which made him an honorary citizen. During the late 1940s, he intervened with theDanishand French security services to secure more lenient treatment for the writerLouis-Ferdinand Céline,who had been imprisoned in Denmark while the French authorities sought his extradition because his openly expressedantisemitismled to charges of collaboration with the occupying Germans and theVichyrégime during the war.[2]
In popular culture
[edit]Nordling is played byOrson Wellesin the filmIs Paris Burning?(1966), byAndré Dussollierin the filmDiplomacy(2014), and byAlexandre Willaumein the TV seriesThe New Look(2024).
References
[edit]- Material from the French and Swedish Wikipedia articles
- ^Olivier Pallaruelo (19 August 2014)."Qui est Raoul Nordling, l'homme qui sauva Paris?"(in French). ALLOCINE.
- ^Hewitt, N. (1999).The Life of Céline: A critical biography.Oxford: Blackwell, p. 250
External links
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