Lucien Rebatet

Lucien Rebatet
Born	15 November 1903 Moras-en-Valloire,France
Died	24 August 1972(1972-08-24)(aged 68) Moras-en-Valloire, France
Other names	François Vinneuil
Occupation(s)	journalist, author

Lucien Rebatet(15 November 1903 – 24 August 1972) was a French fascist, writer, journalist, and intellectual. He is known as an exponent offascismand also as the author ofLes Deux étendards.

Biography

Early life

Rebatet was born and died inMoras-en-Valloire,Drôme.As a young man, Rebatet was educated inSaint-Chamond, Loire.From 1923 to 1927 he studied at theSorbonne,after which he became an insurance agent. It was only in 1929 that he began his career as a writer, becoming a music and film critic (the latter under the pseudonymFrançois Vinneuil) for thefar rightintegralistAction Françaisenewspaper. In 1932 Rebatet became a contributor to the right-wing newspaperJe suis partout( "I Am Everywhere" ), for which he wrote until theAlliedliberation in 1944. In 1938 he became head of information for Action Française and worked closely with the movement's founder,Charles Maurras.

Long before the outbreak of war between France andNazi Germany,Rebatet expressed sympathy forNational Socialism,notably in his articles forJe suis partout,in which he accusedJewsof fomenting a war to toppleAdolf Hitler’s régime. In 1940 he was drafted into theFrench Armyand, although he served, openly hoped for a "short and disastrous war for France".

Collaboration

After thefall of Francehe became a radio reporter for theVichy government.He soon left this post, as well as Action Française, to joinJacques Doriot's newspaperCri Du Peuple,and to continue his writings forJe suis partout.

In 1942 Rebatet published a lengthypamphletentitledLes Décombres( "The Ruins" ), in which he traced the forces he believed to have led France to its fall. He firmly accusedThird Republicpoliticians and its military leadership, as well as French Jews - who he claimed were the prime cause of France's political and military woes.Les Décombresis the clearest expression of Rebatet's fascism, as well as his most antisemitic work. The same year, he began writingLes Deux étendards( "The Two Standards" ), his first novel.

In August 1944 Rebatet fled France for Germany, travelling to theSigmaringen enclave(place of refuge for Vichy authorities as well as the more famous French writer,Céline). It was in Sigmaringen that Rebatet completedLes Deux étendards,which would be published in 1952 byGallimard.He was arrested in Austria in 1945.

After the war

Rebatet was sent back to France and, in 1946, received adeath sentence,which was commuted toforced laborthe next year. Released from prison in 1952, he returned to journalism in 1953, becoming the director of the literary section ofDimanche Matin.In 1954, Gallimard published Rebatet's second novel,Les Épis Mûrs( "The Ripe Grains" ). His final work was a history of music which he began writing in 1965, and which was published byLaffontin 1969.

Although Rebatet continued to proclaim his adherence to fascism until his death, his antisemitism became less pronounced after the war,and he even came to show admiration for the state of Israel.In 1967, he admitted: "The cause of Israel over there is that of all Westerners. It would have surprised me if I had been prophesied in 1939 that I would one day wish for the victory of a Zionist army. But this is the solution that I find reasonable today."In 1969, he also observed: "savor the historical paradox that led the Jews of Israel to defend all the patriotic, moral, military values that they most violently fought during a century in their adopted country."

Despite his controversial biography, there are those, such asGeorge Steiner,who claim that Lucien Rebatet was a great writer, and thatLes Deux étendardsin particular deserves to be considered an important novel in French literary history.

Cultural references

• Rebatet is depicted inJonathan Littell'shistorical novelLes Bienveillantes,where he is a friend of the main character Maximilian Aue.