Gabriel Jeantet (3 April 1906 – 1 December 1978) was a French
far-right
Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...
activist, journalist and polemicist. Active before, during and after the Second World War, Jeantet's links to
François Mitterrand
François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand (26 October 19168 January 1996) was a French politician and statesman who served as President of France from 1981 to 1995, the longest holder of that position in the history of France. As a former First ...
became a source of controversy during the latter's
Presidency
A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified b ...
. His brother
Claude Jeantet
Claude Jeantet (; 12 July 1902 – 16 May 1982) was a French journalist and far-right politician.
Biography
Jeantet was born at Pomponne, Seine-et-Marne, the son of poet Félix Jeantet and brother of fellow extreme rightist Gabriel Jeantet.
...
was also a far right activist.
La Cagoule

Jeantet's early political involvement was with the ultra-conservative
Action Française
''Action Française'' (, AF; ) is a French far-right monarchist and nationalist political movement. The name was also given to a journal associated with the movement, '' L'Action Française'', sold by its own youth organization, the Camelot ...
and he served as a
student leader for this group. He joined
La Cagoule
(, "The Cowl"; founded in 1936) was a French fascist-leaning and anti-communist militant group. It opposed the left-wing Popular Front (in office, June 1936 to 1938) and used violence to promote its activities in the final years of the Thi ...
when the movement was established, citing his fear of an imminent communist revolution as the main reason for his decision to join.
As the group's main theoretic writer during its existence, Jeantet sought to steer the group towards a
socialist
Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...
economic position, arguing in 1942 in favour of a "national and socialist revolution" similar to that associated with
Strasserism
Strasserism () refers to a dissident current associated with the early Nazi movement. Named after brothers Gregor and Otto Strasser, Strasserism emphasized revolutionary nationalism, economic antisemitism, and opposition to both Marxist socia ...
. This was despite the fact that Jeantet was fully aware of La Cagoule being funded by wealthy industrialists such as
Jacques Lemaigre-Dubreuil
Jacques Lemaigre Dubreuil (October 30, 1894 – June 11, 1955) was a French businessman and activist, born in Solignac murdered in Casablanca on June 11, 1955 presumably by members of ''La Main Rouge'' (Red Hand) for being allegedly sympathetic to ...
and
Louis Renault, all of whom despised the concept of socialism. Ultimately Jeantet and La Cagoule leader
Eugène Deloncle
Eugène Deloncle (20 June 1890 – 17 January 1944) was a French politician and fascist leader who founded the organisation “Secret Committee of Revolutionary Action" (CSAR), better known as . He became a prominent Nazi collaborator during Wo ...
came to endorse a form of
national syndicalism
National syndicalism is a socially far-right adaptation of syndicalism within the broader agenda of integral nationalism. National syndicalism developed in France in the early 20th century, and then spread to Italy, Spain, and Portugal.
F ...
in which
corporatist
Corporatism is an ideology and political system of interest representation and policymaking whereby corporate groups, such as agricultural, labour, military, business, scientific, or guild associations, come together and negotiate contracts ...
trade unions involving workers and management would be central to a planned economy.
As well as his extensive writing on behalf of La Cagoule, Jeantet also played a leading in gun-running for the organisation, smuggling weapons into France from like-minded groups
Fascist Italy
Fascist Italy () is a term which is used in historiography to describe the Kingdom of Italy between 1922 and 1943, when Benito Mussolini and the National Fascist Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictatorship. Th ...
and
Nationalist Spain
Francoist Spain (), also known as the Francoist dictatorship (), or Nationalist Spain () was the period of Spanish history between 1936 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in ...
, as well as Belgium and Switzerland.
During the war
Following the
Battle 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 Nazi Germany, German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembour ...
and the establishment of the
Vichy Regime
Vichy France (; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was a French rump state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II, established as a result of the French capitulation after the defeat against ...
Jeantet, who became a supporter of
collaboration with the Nazis
Collaboration (from Latin ''com-'' "with" + ''laborare'' "to labor", "to work") is the process of two or more people, entities or organizations working together to complete a task or achieve a goal. Collaboration is similar to cooperation. The f ...
, was brought into
Philippe Pétain
Henri Philippe Bénoni Omer Joseph Pétain (; 24 April 1856 – 23 July 1951), better known as Marshal Pétain (, ), was a French marshal who commanded the French Army in World War I and later became the head of the Collaboration with Nazi Ger ...
's government as ''inspecteur général à la propagande''. However, when his initial enthusiasm for collaboration waned, due in large part to the high degree of control exercised by the occupying
Germans
Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...
, Jeantet followed the lead of Deloncle in resigning from the Vichy government in 1942. He would later make contact with 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 ...
, such was his disillusionment with
Nazism
Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...
.
Relationship to Mitterrand
François Mitterrand
François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand (26 October 19168 January 1996) was a French politician and statesman who served as President of France from 1981 to 1995, the longest holder of that position in the history of France. As a former First ...
, who had been a minor functionary under Vichy, maintained a lifelong friendship with Jeantet even during his presidency. Mitterrand had even written for Jeantet's journal ''France: Revue de l'Etat Nouveau'' during the war, a fact that would later be used against Mitterrand by his political opponents. The journal was particularly noted for its strong
anti-Semitic
Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...
articles, although Mitterrand's own piece was decidedly innocuous in terms of content. Jeantet was also one of two nominees, the other being Simon Arbellot, who put forward Mitterrand's name for the ''Ordre de la francisque'' medal in 1943.
Post-war activity
In 1948 Jeantet was arrested along with a number of other surviving members of La Cagoule and stood trial on charges relating to a plot by the organisation to set a series of bombs off in Paris in 1937. It was during this trial that Jeantet revealed the extent to which leading figures in French industry, many of whom continued to dominate post-war France, had been involved in providing the movement with financial support. Jeantet was sentenced to 25 years in prison, albeit this was later reduced to four years.
During the late 1960s Jeantet was involved in the formation of the far-right umbrella group ''
Ordre Nouveau''. At the movement's foundation in 1969 he was appointed to the group's national council along with
Henry Charbonneau
Henry Charbonneau (pseudonym: Henry Charneau) (12 December 1913 in Saint-Maixent-l'École, Deux-Sèvres – 2 January 1983 in La Roche-sur-Yon) was a French far right politician and writer.
The son of a soldier, Charbonneau initially came to polit ...
, with the two veterans serving as "mentors" to the new group. By the 1970s Jeantet had become associated with a group of former ''Ordre Nouveau'' activists known as the ''Faire Front'' and he was a founder member in 1974 when this group transformed itself into the
Party of New Forces
Parti des forces nouvelles (PFN) or Party of New Forces was a French far-right political party formed in November 1974 from the ''Comité faire front'', a group of anti-Jean-Marie Le Pen dissidents who had split from the National Front (FN).
De ...
. Jeantet committed suicide in 1978.
Shields
A shield is a piece of personal armour held in the hand, which may or may not be strapped to the wrist or forearm. Shields are used to intercept specific attacks, whether from close-ranged weaponry like spears or long ranged projectiles suc ...
, p. 178
References
Cited sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Jeantet, Gabriel
1906 births
1978 deaths
1978 suicides
People affiliated with Action Française
Party of New Forces politicians
French fascists
French collaborators with Nazi Germany
French prisoners and detainees
Order of the Francisque recipients
French male non-fiction writers
20th-century French journalists
20th-century French male writers
Nazis who died by suicide
Prisoners and detainees of France
Suicides in France