Jean-Pierre Maxence (20 August 1906 – 16 May 1956) was a French writer who was one of the so-called

Non-conformists of the 1930s The non-conformists of the 1930s were groups and individuals during the inter-war period in France that were seeking new solutions to face the political, economical and social crisis. The name was coined in 1969 by the historian Jean-Louis Loubet ...

. Maxence was a leading figure within the so-called ''Jeune Droite'' tendency and was associated with other

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

writers such as Jean de Fabrègues and René Vincent.

Biography

Born in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

as Pierre Godmé, he adopted his name after a character in

Ernest Psichari Ernest Psichari (27 September 1883 – 22 August 1914) was a French author, religious thinker and soldier. The son of noted intellectual Ioannis Psycharis and grandson of liberal writer Ernest Renan, Psichari was baptised into the Greek Orthodox ...

's book ''Le Voyage du centurion''.

Philip Rees Philip Rees (born 1941) is a British writer and librarian formerly in charge of acquisitions at the J. B. Morrell Library, University of York. He has written books on fascism and the extreme right. Works *''Fascism in Britain'' (Harvester Pres ...

, ''

Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890 The ''Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890'' is a reference book by Philip Rees, on leading people in the various far right movements since 1890. It contains entries for what the author regards as "the 500 major figures on the r ...

'', 1990, p. 259 He was close to the

Action française Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 f ...

without ever actually joining the group and also wrote for the neo-Thomist ''La Gazette Francaise''. In his early years he was a staunch monarchist. He did not come to prominence until the 1930s when he wrote on myriad topics for the various reviews produced by the non-conformists.Rees, ''Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right'', p. 260 He was at this time a member of Solidarité Française, albeit a fairly inactive one. He was critical of the

far right Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...

group of writers based around the newspaper '' Je suis partout'' and had a personal hatred of Germany, although he was equally disdainful of

Léon Blum André Léon Blum (; 9 April 1872 – 30 March 1950) was a French socialist politician and three-time Prime Minister. As a Jew, he was heavily influenced by the Dreyfus affair of the late 19th century. He was a disciple of French Socialist lea ...

. A devout

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

, his own writings revealed an empathy towards a

fascism Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and th ...

rooted firmly in Catholicism, effectively a French version of

Rexism The Rexist Party (french: Parti Rexiste), or simply Rex, was a far-right Catholic, nationalist, authoritarian and corporatist political party active in Belgium from 1935 until 1945. The party was founded by a journalist, Léon Degrelle,

. He felt that democracy in France was having a stagnating effect in contrast to what he perceived as the dynaims of Europe's dictatorships and accused the French government of seeking "to transform France into an insurance company" instead of embracing the adventurist spirit of fascism. From 1933 up to the war his main polemical outlet was his regular column, ostensibly about literary criticism, in the journal Gringoire.Mazgaj, ''Imagining Fascism'', p. 119 Maxence was taken to Oflag II-D in 1940 before being allowed to return to France the following year. Once back home Maxence became reconciled to

Vichy France Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the Fascism, fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of ...

and took up his pen in support of the rule of

Philippe Pétain Henri Philippe Benoni Omer Pétain (24 April 1856 – 23 July 1951), commonly known as Philippe Pétain (, ) or Marshal Pétain (french: Maréchal Pétain), was a French general who attained the position of Marshal of France at the end of Worl ...

. However alongside this he also undertook work for Jewish charities during the Second World War, once again demonstrating his duplicitous relationship to mainstream far right opinion in France. His public support for Vichy meant that he fell under a cloud after the war and he went into exile in Switzerland where he became director of ''Centre Supérieure de Philosophie'' in Geneva. He remained in Geneva until his death. His younger brother was the writer Robert Francis, winner of the

Prix Femina The Prix Femina is a French literary prize created in 1904 by 22 writers for the magazine ''La Vie heureuse'' (today known as '' Femina''). The prize is decided each year by an exclusively female jury. They reward French-language works written ...

in 1934 with a novel entitled ''Le Bateau-refuge''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maxence, Jean-Pierre 1906 births 1956 deaths Writers from Paris Christian fascists French fascists French monarchists French male writers 20th-century French male writers Non-conformists of the 1930s