François Brigneau

François Brigneau
Born	Well Emmanuel Allot (1919-04-30)30 April 1919 Concarneau,France
Died	9 April 2012(2012-04-09)(aged 92)
Resting place	Saint-Cloud
Other names	Julien Guernec Mathilde Cruz
Occupation	Journalist
Years active	1945–2012
Employer(s)	Rivarol Minute Le Présent National-Hebdo
Known for	Author, activist
Notable work	La Beauté qui meurt(1954)
Political party	Republican Party of Liberty National Front Party of New Forces
Movement	Ordre Nouveau
Criminal charge	Membership ofMilice
Criminal penalty	Internment
Criminal status	Released in 1945
Awards	Grand Prix de Littérature Policière(1954)

François Brigneau(French pronunciation:[fʁɑ̃swabʁiɲo];30 April 1919 – 9 April 2012) was a Frenchfar-rightjournalist and author who was a leading figure inOrdre Nouveau,theNational Frontand theParty of New Forces.

Early years

Brigneau was born inConcarneau;his birth name was Well Emmanuel Allot.His father, a teacher, was known for hissocialismandpacifism.He joined theMilicetowards the end of the occupation and was imprisoned atFresnesas a consequence.He shared a cell withRobert Brasillachshortly before the latter's execution and became an impassioned defender ofVichy France(a client state ofNaziGermany inWorld War 2) following his release.Around this time he marriedGeorges Suarez's niece.

Brigneau's first political party involvement came in December 1945 when he joined the newly establishedRepublican Party of Liberty,a largely conservative group that nonetheless attracted several former collaborators to its ranks.He also wrote forFrance-Dimanchein the immediate post-war era under the pseudonym Julien Guernec.Under this name he would also write forRivarol,whilst he used various names to write for the likes ofParoles Françaises,Le Rouge et le NoirandL'independance Françaisesand later forLe Courrier de Clan,Roger Holeindre'sLe Cointre Posonand the eponymousLa Chronique de Jean Brigneau.In the early 1960s he became most associated with the weeklyMinute,initially as an editorial writer and then as editor-in-chief.

Brigneau also wrote fiction and as a crime novelist won theGrand Prix de Littérature Policièrein 1954 for his novelLa Beauté qui meurt.

Front National

During the 1960s he wrote strongly in support ofJean-Louis Tixier-Vignancour,playing a leading role in promoting his campaign for thePresidency in 1965.He subsequently became a founder member ofOrdre Nouveau(ON), assuming a leading role within the group.He belonged to the more moderate tendency within the ON which sought to distance far right nationalism from the earlier strains offascism,in contrast to the likes ofFrançois Dupratwho sought to emphasise fascist continuity.Within the ON Brigneau advocated a united front between different strands of the French far right.To this end he became a founder member of theFront National(FN) in 1972 and was an unsuccessful candidate for the party in the1973 legislative electioninHauts-de-Seine.He was the first secretary-general of the movement and also served as vice-president.

Brigneau however soon clashed withJean-Marie Le Pen,who he felt was too personally ambitious, and in June 1973 he split from the FN to become part of the dissident Faire Front group.In November 1974 this group, which had not been formalised but rather was a loose collection of leading ex-FN dissidents, was reconstituted as a political under the nameParti des forces nouvelles(PFN), with Brigneau taking a leading role in this group.He spent several years within the PFN as a member of its political bureau before resigning in 1981 after reassessing his position on Le Pen, whom he came to view as a "Breton genius" and an "inspired prophet".Around this time he also broke off his association withMinute,moving toLe Présent,a Catholicintegristjournal to which he contributedanti-Semiticarticles under the pseudonym Mathilde Cruz.He was removed from this position in late 1986 after the journal moderated its approach by de-emphasising attacks on the Jews.

Later activity

Brigneau would subsequently write forNational-Hebdo,his regular column "Le Journal d'un Homme Libre" largely focusing on the same anti-Semitic themes that had dominated his work forLe Présent,with a particular focus on conspiracy theories and the activities ofB'nai B'rith.Although no longer a member of the FN his column also offered the party unwavering support.He would later become associated withBruno Mégretand in 1998 lent his support to theNational Republican Movement,a splinter group of the FN that Mégret established following a bitter split from Le Pen.

Brigneau died in 2012 aged 92. He was buried inSaint-Cloudwith no representative of the FN in attendance at his funeral.