Max Bonnafous (21 January 1900 – 16 October 1975) was a French sociologist who was Minister of Agriculture and Supplies from 1942 to 1944 in the

Vichy government Vichy France (; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was a French rump state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II, established as a result of the French capitulation after the defeat against ...

Early years

Max Bonnafous was born on 21 January 1900 in

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

, Gironde. He graduated from the

École Normale Supérieure École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by Secondary education in France, secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing i ...

in 1920, studied at the

French Academy in Rome The French Academy in Rome (, ) is an academy located in the Villa Medici, within the Villa Borghese, on the Pincio (Pincian Hill) in Rome, Italy. History The Academy was founded at the Palazzo Capranica in 1666 by Louis XIV under the dire ...

, and passed the ''

agrégation In France, the () is the most competitive and prestigious examination for civil service in the French public education A state school, public school, or government school is a primary school, primary or secondary school that educates all stu ...

'' in philosophy in 1924. He joined the

French Section of the Workers' International The French Section of the Workers' International (, SFIO) was a major socialist political party in France which was founded in 1905 and succeeded in 1969 by the present Socialist Party. The SFIO was founded in 1905 as the French representativ ...

(SFIO). He made substantial contributions to the ''Année sociologique, nouvelle série'', which first appeared in 1925. He became a professor at the ''

lycée In France, secondary education is in two stages: * ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 14. * ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for students between ...

'' in

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

. Bonnafous planned a thesis on suicide. He published ''Le Suicide à Constantinople: Etude statique et essai d'interprétation sociologique'' in 1927. Bonnafous was appointed to the chair of sociology in the

University of Bordeaux The University of Bordeaux (, ) is a public research university based in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. It has several campuses in the cities and towns of Bordeaux, Dax, Gradignan, Périgueux, Pessac, and Talence. There are al ...

in 1930, and held this position until 1940 but did not produce significant work on the subject. In 1929 Bonnafous undertook to edit the selected works of the socialist leader

Jean Jaurès Auguste Marie Joseph Jean Léon Jaurès (3 September 185931 July 1914), commonly referred to as Jean Jaurès (; ), was a French socialist leader. Initially a Moderate Republican, he later became a social democrat and one of the first possibi ...

(1859–1914) in about twenty volumes. He chose to organize the material around six themes: socialism, pacifism, anti-clericalism, political battles, economic and social questions, and the world and men. The first volume was published in May 1931, and nine volumes appeared before 1939. The outbreak of

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) interrupted the work, and his files were scattered during the German occupation of France. He said that afterwards he did not have the courage or the opportunity to reassemble them. In October 1933 Bonnafous published ''Néo-socialisme ? ordre, autorité, nation'' in which he contributed the preface and commentary to important speeches by

Marcel Déat Marcel Déat (; 7 March 1894 – 5 January 1955) was a French politician. Initially a socialist and a member of the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO), he led a breakaway group of right-wing Neosocialists out of the SFIO in 19 ...

Adrien Marquet Adrien Marquet (; 6 October 1884 – 3 February 1955) was a socialist mayor of Bordeaux who turned to the far right. Career Marquet was born in Bordeaux and became its socialist mayor in 1925. In 1933, he was expelled from the French Section ...

and Barthélémy Montagnon at the Congress of Paris. They argued that Socialists must focus on defeating fascism, and to do so must gain the support of the middle classes and eliminate unemployment. Strong national states were necessary to control and direct the economy. Socialists must study and learn from the "intermediary regimes" of economic and social organization being tried in Italy, Germany, Russia and America, which were neither purely Socialist or purely Capitalist. Forty deputies were expelled from the SFIO at a special congress of the Socialist Party on 5 November 1933, most because they refused to accept the ban on participation in cabinets led by Radicals. Bonnafous,

, Barthélémy Montagnon and others were among the

Neo-Socialist Neosocialism was a political faction that existed in France and Belgium during the 1930s and which included several revisionist tendencies in the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO). During the 1930s, the faction gradually distan ...

s who were expelled. Their slogan "Order, Authority, Nation" was repugnant to the Socialist leader

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

. Bonnafous served as cabinet secretary to government ministers in 1934 and 1938.

World War II

When the war broke out in 1939 Bonnafous, in Bordeaux, was one of the five sociology professors in France. In 1940 he chose to collaborate with the Vichy regime. Bonnafous was cabinet secretary to the Minister of the Interior in 1940. He was then appointed a prefect. Bonnafous was Secretary of State for Agriculture and Supplies from 18 April 1942 to 11 September 1942 in the 2nd cabinet of

Pierre Laval Pierre Jean Marie Laval (; 28 June 1883 – 15 October 1945) was a French politician. He served as Prime Minister of France three times: 1931–1932 and 1935–1936 during the Third Republic (France), Third Republic, and 1942–1944 during Vich ...

. He was Minister and Secretary of State for Agriculture and Supplies from 11 September 1942 to 6 January 1944 in the same cabinet. His wife, Hélène Sérieux-Bonnafous, was a psychiatrist. On 4 December 1942 his secretariat allocated a significant increase in rations to the inmates of lunatic asylums. Bonnafous tried to speed up the creation of the

Peasant Corporation The Peasant Corporation () was a Paris-based organization created in Vichy France to support a corporatist structure of agricultural syndicates. The Ministry of Agriculture was unenthusiastic and undermined the corporation, which was launched with ...

, which would unite rural producers in France and give them the apparatus of self-government. The body that was eventually established in 1943 no longer had broad support among the peasants and was too late to make any real change.

Later career

After the Liberation of France Bonnafous was condemned to national disgrace, but was soon pardoned due to his service to the Resistance. However, he retired from political life. He had an affair with the actress

Gaby Morlay Gaby Morlay (born Blanche Pauline Fumoleau; 8 June 1893 – 4 July 1964) was a film actress from France.

(1893–1964) during the war, and as a result the actress was investigated for collaboration with the Nazis after the liberation. Later Bonnafous married Morlay, who continued to play important roles in the 1940s and 1950s. Max Bonnafous died at the age of 75 on 16 October 1975 in

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million1900 births 1975 deaths Politicians from Bordeaux French Section of the Workers' International politicians Socialist Party of France – Jean Jaurès Union politicians Socialist Republican Union politicians Ministers of agriculture of France People of Vichy France Prefects of Bouches-du-Rhône École Normale Supérieure alumni Order of the Francisque recipients People convicted of indignité nationale