Jean Denis (10 November 1902 – 10 March 1992) was a Belgian politician and writer. Through his written work he was the chief ideologue of the Rexist movement. A native of Chastre-Villeroux-Blanmont in

Walloon Brabant Walloon Brabant ( ; ; ) is a province located in Belgium's French-speaking region of Wallonia. It borders on (clockwise from the North) the province of Flemish Brabant (Flemish Region) and the provinces of Liège, Namur and Hainaut. Walloon Br ...

, Denis was educated to doctorate level. Philip Rees, '' Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890'', 1990, p. 89 He first became involved in politics with the radical

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 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

movements, serving as secretary to Monsignor Louis Picard. Léon Degrelle had also been a member of Picard's ''Action Catholique de la Jeunesse Belge'' and it was that movement's publishing house, ''Éditions Rex'', that inspired the name of Rexism.Richard Griffiths, ''Fascism'', p. 119 As such Denis was almost inevitably drawn to Rexism and he served as a deputy for

Namur Namur (; ; ) is a city and municipality in Wallonia, Belgium. It is the capital both of the province of Namur and of Wallonia, hosting the Parliament of Wallonia, the Government of Wallonia and its administration. Namur stands at the confl ...

between 1936 and 1939.Rees, ''Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right'', p. 90 Denis two main books were ''Principes Rexistes'' and ''Bases Doctrinales de Rex'', both published in 1936. Within these books he argued that Rex was more of a popular movement than a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

and endorsed a policy that sought to restore dignity to Belgium through a new hierarchical state. As such he demonstrated an influence of

Integralismo Lusitano ''Integralismo Lusitano'' (English: "Lusitanian Integralism") was a Portugal, Portuguese integralism, integralist political movement founded in Coimbra in 1914 that advocated Traditionalist conservatism, traditionalism but not conservatism. I ...

, which held similar views with regards to

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

, on Rexist thought. Under the Nazi German occupation Denis collaborated with the occupiers and wrote regularly for '' Le Pays Réel''. He was imprisoned after the war for his activity but his fairly minor involvement saw him released in 1951. He settled in Dion-le-Val,

Chaumont-Gistoux Chaumont-Gistoux (; ) is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality of Wallonia located in the Belgium, Belgian province of Walloon Brabant. On 1 January 2006 Chaumont-Gistoux had a total population of 10,926. The total area is 48.09 km2 which ...

following his release and disappeared into obscurity.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Denis, Jean 1902 births 1992 deaths 20th-century Roman Catholics People from Walloon Brabant Belgian Roman Catholic writers Rexist Party politicians Members of the Chamber of Representatives (Belgium) Belgian Nazi propagandists Belgian prisoners and detainees Belgian political writers Belgian writers in French Walloon politicians Prisoners and detainees of Belgium Christian fascists