Maurice Pujo (; 26 January 1872 – 6 September 1955) was a French journalist and co-founder of the nationalist and monarchist
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 ...
movement. He became the leader of the Camelots du Roi, the youth organization of the Action Française which took part in many right-wing demonstrations in the years before
World War II
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 ...
(1939–45). After World War II he was imprisoned for
collaborationist
Wartime collaboration is cooperation with the enemy against one's country of citizenship in wartime. As historian Gerhard Hirschfeld says, it "is as old as war and the occupation of foreign territory".
The term ''collaborator'' dates to the 19th ...
activity.
Life
Early years
Maurice Pujo was born on 26 January 1872. His family was Catholic and royalist. Pujo studied at the ''
Spinoza
Baruch (de) Spinoza (24 November 163221 February 1677), also known under his Latinized pen name Benedictus de Spinoza, was a philosopher of Portuguese-Jewish origin, who was born in the Dutch Republic. A forerunner of the Age of Enlightenmen ...
's moral philosophy. He expected to make a career as a literary critic. He launched the journal ''La Revue jeune'', later renamed ''L’Art et la Vie'', which lasted for a few years. He was fluent in German, very interested in German culture and an ardent follower of
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...
. In 1894 he published his first book, ''Le règne de la grâce'', an essay inspired by the philosophy of the German philosopher
Novalis
Georg Philipp Friedrich Freiherr von Hardenberg (2 May 1772 – 25 March 1801), pen name Novalis (; ), was a German nobility, German aristocrat and polymath, who was a poet, novelist, philosopher and Mysticism, mystic. He is regarded as an inf ...
. He visited Germany as a student in the 1890s. The experience turned him against German influence and made him a French nationalist.
Anti-Dreyfusard
In April 1898, at the height of the Dreyfus affair, the circle of leftist intellectuals to which Pujo belonged became supporters of
Alfred Dreyfus
Alfred Dreyfus (9 October 1859 – 12 July 1935) was a French Army officer best known for his central role in the Dreyfus affair. In 1894, Dreyfus fell victim to a judicial conspiracy that eventually sparked a major political crisis in the Fre ...
. Maurice Pujo and Henri Vaugeois left this group. Late in 1898 Vaugeois, Pujo and a few other nationalists who met at the
Émile Zola
Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola (, ; ; 2 April 184029 September 1902) was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of Naturalism (literature), naturalism, and an important contributor to ...
and what many saw as an internationalist, pacifist left-wing conspiracy. In November 1898 their petition gained signatures in the Parisian schools, and was soon circulated throughout political, intellectual and artistic circles in Paris.
On 19 December 1898 Pujo published an article that first used the term ''L’Action française'' (French Action) in the daily paper ''L’Éclair'' in which he declared that the dispute over Dreyfus was damaging France's vital interests, and called for maintenance of the traditions of the homeland. He said the purpose of the ''Action française'' should be "to remake France, republican and free, into a State as organized at home, as powerful abroad, as it was under the
Jules Lemaître
François Élie Jules Lemaître (27 April 1853 – 4 August 1914) was a French critic and dramatist.
Biography
Lemaître was born in Vennecy, Loiret. He became a professor at the University of Grenoble in 1883, but was already well known for h ...
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 ...
movement was held on 20 June 1899 in Paris. In his keynote speech at this meeting Vaugeois declared that the movement stood for "anti-Semitic, anti-Masonic, anti-parliamentary and anti-democratic" nationalism.
Charles Maurras
Charles-Marie-Photius Maurras (; ; 20 April 1868 – 16 November 1952) was a French author, politician, poet and critic. He was an organiser and principal philosopher of ''Action Française'', a political movement that was monarchist, corporatis ...
soon joined the Action Française. Maurras thought the Bourbon monarchy should be restored, using violence if needed. Pujo came to agree with Maurras. He wrote later, "Under the mortal blows of Charles Maurras, the republicanism of each of us succumbed one by one in this year, 1900, which was the year of the ''hegira'' for the Action Francaise."
On 16 November 1908 Lucien Moreau and Maurice Pujo created the Camelots du Roi youth movement.
Maxime Real del Sarte
Maxime Real del Sarte (May 2, 1888 – February 15, 1954) was a French sculptor and political activist.
Biography
Early life
Maxime Real del Sarte was born on 2 May 1888 in Paris, France, as the son of the sculptor Louis Desire Real and Marie ...
was a co-founder. In the autumn of 1908 Pujo led the ''Camelots'' in a series of nationalist demonstrations ostensibly against a Sorbonne student named Thalamas who had insulted
. He remained director of the ''Camelots'' from 1908 to 1939. During
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
(1914–18) Pujo was called up and served on the front. In 1920 Pujo said the Sorbonne was still dangerously infatuated with German culture, and was infiltrated by "foreigners, spies, Jews and Bolsheviks." He called for dismissal of faculty members who he thought were pro-German such as
Charles Seignobos
Charles Seignobos (10 September 1854 – 24 April 1942) was a French scholar of historiography and a historian who specialized in the history of the French Third Republic, and was a member of the Human Rights League.
Personal life and educatio ...
and Aulard. He continued to lead demonstrations by the Camelots du Roi into the 1930s, notably the demonstrations about the Stavisky Affair of January and February 1934.
During
World War II
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 ...
(1939–45) when the Germans occupied France Pujo stayed with Maurras in
Lyon
Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...
died in 1942 Pujo was made co-director of the daily ''Action Française''. He was imprisoned by the Gestapo for three weeks in June 1944. In January 1945 Pujo and Maurras were tried for collaboration and Pujo was sentenced to five years in prison. He was released in October 1947. He then became political director of '' Aspects de la France'' until his death on 6 September 1955. Pujo has been called "a kind of exalted flunky and right-hand man for Maurras."
Pujo's son, Pierre Pujo led
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 ...
Charles Maurras
Charles-Marie-Photius Maurras (; ; 20 April 1868 – 16 November 1952) was a French author, politician, poet and critic. He was an organiser and principal philosopher of ''Action Française'', a political movement that was monarchist, corporatis ...
Charles Maurras
Charles-Marie-Photius Maurras (; ; 20 April 1868 – 16 November 1952) was a French author, politician, poet and critic. He was an organiser and principal philosopher of ''Action Française'', a political movement that was monarchist, corporatis ...