Jacques Renouvin (; 6 October 1905 – 24 January 1944) was a

royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of gove ...

militant The English word ''militant'' is both an adjective and a noun, and it is generally used to mean vigorously active, combative and/or aggressive, especially in support of a cause, as in "militant reformers". It comes from the 15th century Lat ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

during the

Second World War 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 hero of 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 ...

Biography

Born in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, Renouvin studied law and initially became a lawyer. He initially supported

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 ...

, but left after the

6 February 1934 crisis The 6 February 1934 crisis (also known as the Veterans' Riot) was an anti-parliamentarist street demonstration in Paris, organized by multiple far-right leagues that culminated in a riot on the Place de la Concorde, near the building used for t ...

. In November 1938 after the

Munich agreement The Munich Agreement was reached in Munich on 30 September 1938, by Nazi Germany, the United Kingdom, the French Third Republic, French Republic, and the Kingdom of Italy. The agreement provided for the Occupation of Czechoslovakia (1938–194 ...

, he garnered attention by publicly slapping

Pierre-Étienne Flandin Pierre-Étienne Flandin (; 12 April 1889 – 13 June 1958) was a French conservative politician of the Third Republic, leader of the Democratic Republican Alliance (ARD), and Prime Minister of France from 1934 to 1935. A military pilot during ...

, who'd sent a congratulatory telegram to

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

. Renouvin was mobilised in 1939, and he was a volunteer for the ''corps francs''. He fought a brilliant campaign, being wounded and taken prisoner. He escaped from the hospital to which he had been brought. After demobilisation, he moved to the free zone in late 1940, and joined the underground movement '' Liberté'' created by a small group of Christian democrat teachers. Specifically responsible for

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded l ...

, he organised youth commandos in pursuit of this. After the merger between ''Liberté'' and '' Les Petites Ailes'' which gave rise to ''

Combat Combat (French language, French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent Conflict (process), conflict between multiple combatants with the intent to harm the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed (Hand-to-hand combat, not usin ...

'',

Henri Frenay Henri Frenay Sandoval (11 November 1905 – 8 August 1988) was a French military officer and French Resistance member, who served as minister of prisoners, refugees and deportees in Charles de Gaulle's Provisional Government of the French Republic ...

put Renouvin in charge of organising ''Groupes francs'' throughout the free zone. This position made him one of the most wanted resistance members by all the police. Renouvin was arrested on the 29 January 1943 by the ''

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

'' at

Brive-la-Gaillarde Brive-la-Gaillarde (; Limousin dialect of ), commonly known as simply Brive, is a commune of France. It is a sub-prefecture and the largest city of the Corrèze department. It has around 46,000 inhabitants, while the population of the aggl ...

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

, along with Mireille Tronchon whom he had married while in hiding. He was transferred to Fresnes Prison and tortured for several months before being deported to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

on the 29 August 1943. Interned in

Mauthausen concentration camp Mauthausen was a German Nazi concentration camp on a hill above the market town of Mauthausen, Upper Austria, Mauthausen (roughly east of Linz), Upper Austria. It was the main camp of a group with List of subcamps of Mauthausen, nearly 100 f ...

, he died of exhaustion on 24 January 1944. He had a son, Bertrand Renouvin, from his marriage to Mireille Tronchon; Bertrand was born on 15 June 1943 while his mother was still being held in La Santé prison. A 20

centime Centime (from ) is French language, French for "Cent (currency), cent", and is used in English as the name of the fraction currency in several Francophone countries (including Switzerland, Algeria, Belgium, Morocco and France). In France, the ...

s postage stamp was issued in 1961 in Renouvin's memory.

References

* François-Marin Fleutot - ''Des Royalistes dans la Résistance'' - Flammarion, 2000. * François Marcot (dir.) - ''Dictionnaire historique de la Résistance'' - Coll. Bouquins, Robert Laffont, 2006.

External links

Ordre de la Libération
{{DEFAULTSORT:Renouvin, Jacques 1905 births 1944 deaths Military personnel from Paris French Resistance members French Army personnel killed in World War II Companions of the Liberation French people who died in Mauthausen concentration camp French prisoners of war in World War II World War II prisoners of war held by Germany French escapees Escapees from German detention People affiliated with Action Française