Marc Augier (; 19 March 190816 December 1990), better known by the

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

Saint-Loup (), was a French

anti-capitalist Anti-capitalism is a political ideology and Political movement, movement encompassing a variety of attitudes and ideas that oppose capitalism. Anti-capitalists seek to combat the worst effects of capitalism and to eventually replace capitalism ...

, later turned into

fascist Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...

, politician,

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

and mountaineer.

Early years

Augier's earliest direct political involvement began in the Republican-Socialist Party, although the main focus of his youthful energies was the ''Centre laïc des auberges'', a non-political group central to the development of youth hostels in France. Philip Rees, '' Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890'', 1990, p. 15 Although its leader

Jean Giono Jean Giono (30 March 1895 – 8 October 1970) was a French writer who wrote works of fiction mostly set in the Provence region of France. First period Jean Giono was born to a family of modest means, his father a cobbler of Piedmontese descent a ...

was not a fascist, it was Augier's fascination with Giono's primitivism that eventually led the young Augier to adopt that ideology. He was also a supporter of

paganism Paganism (, later 'civilian') is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Christianity, Judaism, and Samaritanism. In the time of the ...

against Christian "decadence".

Collaboration

Augier formed his own group, the ''Les Jeunes de l'Europe Nouvelle'', in 1941, attracting 4000 members and affiliating to the Groupe Collaboration. He became associated with the Breton nationalist Alphonse de Châteaubriant, a leading figure in the Groupe, and was for a time business manager of his journal La Gerbe. Augier then joined the political bureau of Jacques Doriot's French Popular Party (PPF). He enlisted in the Legion of French Volunteers Against Bolshevism and served on the Eastern Front whilst also launching and editing the group's paper ''Le Combattant Européen''. He served in both the LVF and the French Waffen SS as a war correspondent. He was also responsible for the French Waffen SS' official organ, ''Devenir'' ("To become" or "Becoming"). However Augier, who still supported economic socialism and hoped that

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 ...

would take seriously the 'socialism' part of its name, grew disillusioned by the distinct lack of

anti-capitalism Anti-capitalism is a political ideology and movement encompassing a variety of attitudes and ideas that oppose capitalism. Anti-capitalists seek to combat the worst effects of capitalism and to eventually replace capitalism with an alternati ...

amongst the SS men with whom he served.

Post-war writing

In 1945 he went underground and published ''Face Nord'' ("North Face") under the pseudonym M-A de Saint-Loup to pay for his passage to Argentina. The book had some success in France. In

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

he acted as a technical adviser to

Juan Perón Juan Domingo Perón (, , ; 8 October 1895 – 1 July 1974) was an Argentine military officer and Statesman (politician), statesman who served as the History of Argentina (1946-1955), 29th president of Argentina from 1946 to Revolución Libertad ...

and also enlisted in the

Argentine Army The Argentine Army () is the Army, land force branch of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic and the senior military service of Argentina. Under the Argentine Constitution, the president of Argentina is the commander-in-chief of the Armed For ...

, attaining the rank of lieutenant-colonel. He also acted as Eva Peron's ski instructor. He was pardoned and returned to France in 1953. Once back in France he published ''La Nuit commence au Cap Horn'' ("The Night begins in Cap Horn") as Saint-Loup. He may have won the prestigious Prix Goncourt for the book but ''Le Figaro Littéraire'' exposed Augier as the true author. Of the entire jury only

Colette Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (; 28 January 1873 – 3 August 1954), known as Colette or Colette Willy, was a French author and woman of letters. She was also a Mime artist, mime, actress, and journalist. Colette is best known in the English-speaki ...

refused to retract her vote for Saint-Loup during the ensuing uproar. Saint-Loup continued to work as an author and journalist, writing several books about the LVF (''Les Volontaires''; "The Volunteers") and both the French (''Les Hérétiques''; "The Heretics", ''Les Nostalgiques''; "The Nostalgics") and Belgian Waffen SS (''Les SS de la Toison d'or''; "The SS of the Golden Fleece"). His writing was marked by a pursuit of adventure, the desire to surpass the self and an antipathy to Christian philosophy. He was an apologist for the foreign SS volunteers with whom he had served. He published several works about regionalist movements and about man's struggle to survive in wild and savage environments. He was also fascinated by cars and motorised transport and wrote biographies of Louis Renault and Marius Berliet. His last novel, ''La République du Mont-Blanc'' ("The Republic of Mont-Blanc"), published in 1982, was about the survival of a small Savoyard community that took refuge on the mountain to escape intermixing and decadence. Saint-Loup influenced certain pagan and far-right authors such as Pierre Vial and Jean Mabire.

Later years

He would later return to France where he worked closely with René Binet whilst also acting as president of Dominique Venner's ''Comité France-

Rhodesia Rhodesia ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state, unrecognised state in Southern Africa that existed from 1965 to 1979. Rhodesia served as the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to the ...

''. He was featured heavily in France's far right journals until his death. He continues to be quoted and translated in far-right circles long after his death.https://counter-currents.com/author/saint-loup/

References

{{Authority control 1908 births 1990 deaths Writers from Bordeaux Republican-Socialist Party politicians Far-right modern pagans French Popular Party politicians French Waffen-SS personnel French anti-capitalists War correspondents of World War II 20th-century French non-fiction writers 20th-century French male writers French expatriates in Argentina French exiles French modern pagans Argentine Army officers Modern pagan writers French male non-fiction writers 20th-century pseudonymous writers Legion of French Volunteers Against Bolshevism personnel Nazis who fled to Argentina