Dominique Ponchardier (March 3, 1917,

Saint-Étienne Saint-Étienne (; Franco-Provençal: ''Sant-Etiève''), also written St. Etienne, is a city and the prefecture of the Loire département, in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regi ...

– April 17, 1986,

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million French Resistance The French Resistance ( ) was a collection of groups that fought the German military administration in occupied France during World War II, Nazi occupation and the Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy#France, collaborationist Vic ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and later held positions as an intelligence officer, diplomat, colonial administrator and company president. He was a long-standing follower of

Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French general and statesman who led the Free France, Free French Forces against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Re ...

, at different times working for him in underground, intelligence, political, civil and diplomatic capacities.

Early life

Born into a family of industrialists, Dominique Ponchardier received his secondary education in

Anti-Nazi Resistance

Ponchardier was doing his military service when

broke out. Wounded in the initial part of the war, he avoided being taken prisoner after the

Fall of France The Battle of France (; 10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign (), the French Campaign (, ) and the Fall of France, during the Second World War was the German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembourg and the Net ...

, for which he later got the

Escapees' Medal The Escapees' Medal () is a military award bestowed by the government of France to individuals who were prisoners of war and who successfully escaped internment or died as a result of their escape attempt. The "Escapees' Medal" was established by ...

. He joined the

French Resistance The French Resistance ( ) was a collection of groups that fought the German military administration in occupied France during World War II, Nazi occupation and the Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy#France, collaborationist Vic ...

in October 1940 - a few months after the beginning of the Nazi occupation. In 1942, he participated in establishing the "Sosie" resistance network, together with his brother Pierre Ponchardier. He ended the war with the rank of Chef de Mission 1st class at the Directorate General of Studies and Research ( DGER), the intelligence agency of the

Free French Forces __NOTOC__ The French Liberation Army ( ; AFL) was the reunified French Army that arose from the merging of the Armée d'Afrique with the prior Free French Forces (; FFL) during World War II. The military force of Free France, it participated ...

Gaullist activist

In 1948 he was a member of the board of directors of the RPF, a political movement founded by

Author of spy and detective fiction

In 1950, Ponchardier published the memoires of his wartime experiences, ''Les Pavés de l'enfer'' (''The Cobblestones of Hell''). This was followed, between 1954 and 1962, by a successful literary career under the pseudonyms ''A.L. Dominica'' and ''Antoine Dominique''. He wrote an extensive series of

Spy thriller Spy fiction is a genre of literature involving espionage as an important context or plot device. It emerged in the early twentieth century, inspired by rivalries and intrigues between the major powers, and the establishment of modern intelli ...

Detective novels Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an criminal investigation, investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around ...

featuring a French intelligence operative and detective nicknamed "Le Gorille" ("The Gorilla"). He adapted some of his novels for the cinema. After 1962 Ponchardier was too busy with various jobs and assignments to continue writing. His literary career resumed much later, in 1978 - his last book being published in 1983.

Anti-OAS campaign

In the aftermath of the

Algerian war The Algerian War (also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence) ''; '' (and sometimes in Algeria as the ''War of 1 November'') was an armed conflict between France and the Algerian National Liberation Front (Algeri ...

, in 1963, Ponchardier was recalled to active service and placed in charge of activities against the OAS. Already earlier, a militia which fought against the OAS with unofficial support from the French government got named "

Barbouzes The Barbouzes ("bearded ones", or "fake-beards") were a group of armed counterinsurgents established with the purpose of suppressing the Organisation Armée Secrète (OAS) in Algeria from 1961 to 1962, when they were defeated by OAS militants. Wor ...

" ("False Beards") - a name invented by Ponchardier and originally appearing in his fiction. He was also a technical advisor to Michel Maurice-Bokanowski, Minister Of Industry.

Diplomat

From 1964 to 1968, Ponchardier was the French Ambassador to

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

. As such, it was he who negotiated in 1967 the release and expulsion to France of

Régis Debray Jules Régis Debray (; born 2 September 1940) is a French philosopher, journalist, former government official and academic. He is known for his theorization of mediology, a critical theory of the long-term transmission of cultural meaning in ...

, captured by the Bolivian soldiers while he was leaving the headquarters of revolutionary

Che Guevara Ernesto "Che" Guevara (14th May 1928 – 9 October 1967) was an Argentines, Argentine Communist revolution, Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, Guerrilla warfare, guerrilla leader, diplomat, and Military theory, military theorist. A majo ...

(who was killed shortly afterwards).

Colonial Administrator

From 1969 to 1971, Ponchardier was Governor of the French Territory of the Afars and the Issas (today

Djibouti Djibouti, officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to the east. The country has an area ...

). At the time, this was France's last remaining toehold on the African continent, all other African colonies having been granted independence already. At the direction of President De Gaulle and despite international pressure, France was trying to hold on to this last colony, manipulating ethnic divisions between Somali and Afar inhabitants. In his tenure, Ponchardier was confronted with increasingly militant activities by the FLCS ("

Front de Libération de la Côte des Somalis The Front for the Liberation of the Somali Coast (, , ) was a nationalist organization, and later a guerrilla group that fought for the independence of Djibouti from France. The Front de Libération de la Côte des Somalis (FLCS) was recognized a ...

", Somali Coast Liberation Front) which in January 1970 claimed an attack on the popular Palm in Zinc, a bar in

Djibouti City Djibouti (also called Djibouti City and Jibuti in early Western texts) is the capital city of the Djibouti, Republic of Djibouti. It is located in the coastal Djibouti Region on the Gulf of Tadjoura. Djibouti has a population of around 780,000 ...

. Ponchardier's successors would give up attempting to stem the tide of independence, and France would leave Djibouti in 1977.

Businessman

Ponchardier's last active years were spent in the private sector. From 1971 to 1981, he was President of the Comptoirs français du développement du textile (French company for the development of textile fibers, now Dagris).

Death

Ponchardier died on April 17, 1986, at

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million Villefranche-sur-Mer Villefranche-sur-Mer (, ; ; ) is a resort town in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region on the French Riviera and is located southwest of the Principality of Monaco, which is just west of the French-Italian ...

(

Alpes-Maritimes Alpes-Maritimes (; ; ; ) is a Departments of France, department of France located in the country's southeast corner, on the France–Italy border, Italian border and Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast. Part of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'A ...

Writings

;''Le Gorille'' (The Gorilla) series, signed ''A. L. Dominique'' or ''Antoine Dominique'' :This long-lasting series, running from 1954 to 1961, long interrupted when Ponchardier was otherwise busy and resumed between 1978 and 1983, is Ponchardier's most well-known literary ouvre. It relates the adventures of Geo Paquet, nicknamed ''The Gorilla'' for his physique. The books were published in the "Black Series" (Série noire) of

Éditions Gallimard Éditions Gallimard (), formerly Éditions de la Nouvelle Revue Française (1911–1919) and Librairie Gallimard (1919–1961), is one of the leading French book publishers. In 2003, it and its subsidiaries published 1,418 titles. Founded by G ...

, and later by Plon. Fitting with the author's

Gaullist Gaullism ( ) is a French political stance based on the thought and action of World War II French Resistance leader Charles de Gaulle, who would become the founding President of the Fifth French Republic. De Gaulle withdrew French forces from t ...

sympathies, in

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

espionage situations French Intelligence operatives are shown as acting in complete independence of - and often in strong aggressive rivalry with - their American and British counterparts, their mutual hostility nearly as strong as vis-a-vis the Soviet spies. *First Period (1954-1961) (numbers refer to the ''Série noire'', which included many books by other authors) * ''Le Gorille vous salue bien'', No. 220, Paris, 1954 (Adapted to cinema) * ''Gaffe au Gorille !'', No. 225, Paris, 1954 * ''Trois gorilles'', No. 231, Paris, 1955 * ''Gorille sur champ d'azur'', No. 236, Paris, 1955 * ''Le Gorille et le barbu'', No. 245, Paris, 1955 * ''La valse des gorilles'', No. 258, Paris, 1955 (Adapted to cinema) ''La valse des gorilles'' is set in Occupied Germany in the direct aftermath of WWII. French, British, American and Soviet agents engage in a savage four-cornered struggle, each country trying to grab the plans for an advanced fighter plane which the Nazis developed at the last stages of the war and did not get a chance to build. In the end, after hard fighting and many dirty tricks, the French gain possession - and upon examining the plans, discover the plane to be already obsolete. * ''L'archipel aux Gorilles'', No. 265, Paris, 1955 * ''Le Gorille dans le Pot au noir'', No. 269, Paris, 1955 * ''Le Gorille sans cravate'', No. 280, Paris, 1955 * ''Le Gorille se mange froid'', No. 287, Paris, 1955 * ''Le Gorille en Bourgeois'', No. 292, Paris, 1956 * ''Le Gorille chez les Mandingues'', No. 297, Paris, 1956 * ''Poker Gorille'', No. 302, Paris, 1956 * ''Le Gorille et l'Amazone'', No. 307, Paris, 1956 * ''Le Gorille dans le cocotier'', No. 312, Paris, 1956 * ''Le Gorille compte ses abattis'', No. 317, Paris, 1956 * ''Entre le Gorille et les Corses'', No. 322, Paris, 1956 * ''Couscous Gorille'', No. 327, Paris, 1956 * ''Le Gorille dans la sciure'', No. 332, Paris, 1956 * ''Le Gorille en bretelles'', No. 337, Paris, 1956 * ''Paumé le Gorille !'', No. 342, Paris, 1956 * ''Le Gorille se met à table'', No. 347, Paris, 1956 * ''Le Gorille bille en tête'', No. 352, Paris, 1957 * ''Le Gorille crache le feu'', No. 362, Paris, 1957 * ''Le Gorille dans la verdine'', No. 372, Paris, 1957 * ''Le Gorille au frigo'', No. 382, Paris, 1957 * ''Le Gorille en pétard'', No. 387, Paris, 1957 * ''Le Gorille et les pelouseux'', No. 397, Paris, 1957 * ''Le Gorille sans moustache'', No. 407, Paris, 1957 * ''Le Gorille tatoué'', No. 417, Paris, 1958 * ''Le Gorille chez les parents terribles'', No. 427, Paris, 1958 * ''Le Gorille dans le cirage'', No. 437, Paris, 1958 * ''Le Gorille en révolution'', No. 460, Paris, 1958 * ''Le Pavé du Gorille'', No. 471, Paris, 1958 * ''Le Gorille a du poil au cœur'', No. 494, Paris, 1959 * ''Le Gorille en fleurs'', No. 505, Paris, 1959 * ''Le Gorille en est-il ?'', No. 528, Paris, 1959 * ''Le Gorille a mordu l'archevêque'', No. 552, Paris, 1960 * ''La Peau du Gorille'', No. 563, Paris, 1960 * ''Trois gorilles sur un bateau'', No. 577, Paris, 1960 * ''Le Gorille aux mains d'or'', No. 606, Paris, 1960 * ''Le Gorille et les sociétés secrètes'', No. 637, Paris, 1961 * ''Le Gorille enragé'', No. 680, Paris, 1961 *Second Period (1978-1983) * ''Oiseaux de nuit'', Paris, Plon, coll. Le Gorille No. 1, 1978 * ''Irish Micmac'', Paris, Plon, coll. Le Gorille No. 4, 1978 * ''Tendre est mon chien cuit'', Paris, Plon, coll. Le Gorille No. 6, 1978 * ''L'African Terror'', Paris, Plon, coll. Le Gorille No. 8, 1978 * ''Apocalypse Bazar'', Paris, Plon, coll. Le Gorille No. 9, 1978 * ''Sweet Lupanar'', Paris, Plon, coll. Le Gorille No. 11, 1979 * ''Dans le baba'', Paris, Plon, coll. Le Gorille No. 13, 1979 * ''Feu au derche'', Paris, Plon, coll. Le Gorille No. 15, 1979 * ''La Buveuse de santé'', Paris, Plon, coll. Le Gorille No. 17, 1980 * ''...Jusqu'au cou'', Paris, Plon, coll. Le Gorille No. 19, 1980 * ''Le Con pathétique'', Paris, Plon, coll. Le Gorille No. 21, 1980 * ''Semoule et foies blancs'', Paris, Plon, coll. Le Gorille No. 23, 1981 * ''Du sang dans le caviar'', Paris, Plon, coll. Le Gorille No. 25, 1981 * ''Le Gorille et les Corses'', Paris, Plon, coll. Le Gorille No. 26, 1981 * ''Le Gorille paumé dans le soleil'', Paris, Plon, coll. Le Gorille No. 27, 1982 * ''Le Gorille et la mauvaise soupe'', Paris, Plon, coll. Le Gorille No. 29, 1982 * ''Le Gorille et la môme éblouie'', Paris, Plon, coll. Le Gorille No. 30, 1982 * ''Le Gorille et la très grande faute'', Paris, Plon, coll. Le Gorille No. 31, 1982 * ''Le Gorille et l'inconnu aux yeux blancs'', Paris, Plon, coll. Le Gorille No. 32, 1983 * ''Le Gorille chez les Popofs'', Paris, Plon, coll. Le Gorille No. 33, 1983 * ''Le Gorille en cavale'', Paris, Plon, coll. Le Gorille No. 34, 1983 ;Other novels signed ''Antoine Dominique'' * ''Les Suspects, Paris'', Éditions France-Empire, 1957 * ''Passage à vide'', Paris, Gallimard, Série noire No. 449, 1958 * ''L'Hôtel des Sans-Culottes'', Paris, Gallimard, Série noire No. 483, 1959 * ''Pétrole'', Paris, Gallimard, Série noire No. 517, 1959 * ''Le Manouche'', Paris, Gallimard, Série noire No. 541, 1960 * ''Au poteau'', Paris, Gallimard, Série noire No. 592, 1960 * ''Baobab'', Paris, Gallimard, Série noire No. 624, 1961 * ''Au temps des cerises'', Paris, Gallimard, Série noire No. 661, 1961 * ''Tête-de-fer'', Paris, Gallimard, 1963 ;Novels signed ''Dominique Ponchardier'' * ''La Dame de Tadjoura'', Paris, Gallimard, 1973 * ''La Mort du Condor'', Paris, Gallimard, 1976 ;Memoires signed ''Dominique Ponchardier'' * ''Les Pavés de l'enfer'', Paris, Gallimard, 1950 ; republished Paris, ''J'ai lu Leur aventure'' No. A48/49, 1969; another variation published 1973 as 'Les Pavés de l'enfer, la Résistance en France, 1940-1944'' * ''La Dame de Tadjoura'' (1973)

Filmography

* 1958: ''Les Suspects'' (The Suspects) by

Jean Dréville Jean Dréville (20 September 1906 – 5 March 1997) was a French film director. He directed more than 40 films between 1928 and 1969. Selected filmography * (1928) * '' A Man of Gold'' (1934) * '' The Chess Player'' (1938) * '' White Nigh ...

with

Charles Vanel Charles-Marie Vanel (21 August 1892 – 15 April 1989) was a French actor and director. During his 65-year film career, which began in 1923, he appeared in more than 200 films and worked with many prominent directors, including Alfred Hitchcock, ...

* 1959: '' The Mask of the Gorilla'' by

Bernard Borderie Bernard Borderie (10 June 1924 in Paris – 28 May 1978 in Paris) was a French film director and screenwriter. His father, Raymond Borderie, was one of the producers of ''Children of Paradise, Les Enfants du Paradis'' (''Children of Paradise'', 194 ...

, with

Lino Ventura Angiolino Giuseppe Pasquale Ventura (14 July 1919 – 22 October 1987), known as Lino Ventura, was an Italian-born actor and philanthropist, who lived and worked for most of his life in France. He was considered one of the greatest leading men ...

in the title role. * 1960: ''La Valse du Gorille'' by

, with

Roger Hanin Roger Hanin (born Roger Levy, 20 October 1925 – 11 February 2015) was a French actor and film director, best known for playing the title role in the TV police drama, '' Navarro''. Career Roger Hanin was born in 1925 in Algiers, Algeria as Rog ...

in the title role. * 1961: ''L'Exécution'' ('TV') by

Maurice Cazeneuve Maurice may refer to: *Maurice (name), a given name and surname, including a list of people with the name Places * or Mauritius, an island country in the Indian Ocean *Maurice, Iowa, a city *Maurice, Louisiana, a village *Maurice River, a trib ...

with

René Dary René Dary (19 July 1905 – 6 October 1974) was a French film actor.Witt & Temple p.150 Dary began his career as a child actor. Selected filmography * '' Sidonie Panache'' (1934) * ''The Lie of Nina Petrovna'' (1937) * '' S.O.S. Sahara'' (1938) ...

* 1962: ''Le Gorille a mordu l'archevêque'' by

Maurice Labro Maurice Labro (21 September 1910 – 23 March 1987) was a French film director. Filmography * 1947 in the movies, 1947: ' * 1948 in the movies, 1948: ''Three Boys, One Girl'' * 1949 in the movies, 1949: ''The Heroic Monsieur Boniface'' * 195 ...

, with

in the title role. * 1990: ''Le Gorille'' : TV mini-series with 13 episodes, by (

Duccio Tessari Duccio Tessari (11 October 1926 – 6 September 1994) was an Italian film director, screenwriter and actor, considered one of the fathers of Spaghetti Westerns. Born in Genoa, Tessari started in the fifties as documentarist and as screenwriter ...

, Patrick Jamain,

Pierre Granier-Deferre Pierre Granier-Deferre (2 July 1927 – 16 November 2007) was a French film director and screenwriter. His 1971 film ''Le Chat'' (The Cat) won the Best Actor and Best Actress awards at the 21st Berlin International Film Festival. His 19 ...

Jean Delannoy Jean Delannoy (; 12 January 1908 – 18 June 2008) was a French actor, film editor, screenwriter and film director. Biography Although Delannoy was born in a Paris suburb, his family was from Haute-Normandie in the north of France. He was a Pro ...

...), with Karim Allaoui in the title role, ''Le Gorille se mange froid''

Decorations

* Commander in the

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

Compagnon de la Libération The Order of Liberation (, ) is a French Order which was awarded to heroes of the Liberation of France during World War II. It is a worn by recipients only before the ''Légion d’Honneur'' (Legion of Honour). In the official portrait of Gen ...

- decree of 27 December 1945 *

Croix de guerre 1939-1945 Croix (French for "cross") may refer to: Belgium * Croix-lez-Rouveroy, a village in municipality of Estinnes in the province of Hainaut France * Croix, Nord, in the Nord department * Croix, Territoire de Belfort, in the Territoire de Belfort depa ...

: (4 citations) *

Médaille de la résistance The Resistance Medal (, ) was a decoration bestowed by the French Committee of National Liberation, based in the United Kingdom, during World War II. It was established by a decree of General Charles de Gaulle on 9 February 1943 "to recognize the ...

with a rosette *

Médaille des évadés The Escapees' Medal () is a military award bestowed by the government of France to individuals who were prisoners of war and who successfully escaped internment or died as a result of their escape attempt. The "Escapees' Medal" was established by ...

* Médaille des Blessés

References

External links

"Dominique Ponchardier Dies, A Hero of French Resistance hero"

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

.
Notice de personne, Ponchardier, Dominique (1917-1986) forme internationale / La dame de Tadjoura, Dominique Ponchardier, 1973 WW, France 1985-1986 / Hommes et destins, VIII. Académie des sciences d'Outre-mer, 1988 / Dictionnaire des littératures policières, 2007 / "Livres Hebdo", n ̊19, 5 mai 1986 / Monde, 1986-04-19 et 1986-04-26Dominique Ponchardier sur le site de l'Ordre de la Libération

Dominique Ponchardier (1917-1986)
bnf.fr {{DEFAULTSORT:Ponchardier, Dominique 1917 births 1986 deaths Writers from Saint-Étienne Rally of the French People politicians French crime fiction writers French male screenwriters 20th-century French screenwriters Companions of the Liberation People of the Algerian War Commanders of the Legion of Honour 20th-century French novelists French male novelists 20th-century French male writers French Resistance members French diplomats French Territory of the Afars and the Issas French colonial governors and administrators French industrialists