Simon Pierre Sabiani (14 May 1888 – 29 September 1956) was a French businessman and politician. He served as a member of the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

from 1928 to 1936.

Early life

Simon Pierre Sabiani was born in 1888 in Casamaccioli,

Corsica Corsica ( , , ; ; ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the Regions of France, 18 regions of France. It is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the Metro ...

, France. He had four brothers and one sister. He moved to

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

. Sabiani served in

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 ...

within the XVth corps of the 112th regiment of line infantry. He was nicknamed the " Pierre de Bayard Corse" (Corsican war hero) and awarded the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

and the

Croix de Guerre The (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awarded during World ...

for his service.

Career

Sabiani joined the

SFIO The C programming language provides many standard library functions for file input and output. These functions make up the bulk of the C standard library header . The functionality descends from a "portable I/O package" written by Mike Lesk at ...

in 1919, and for a while the PCF. In 1923, he founded the "Parti d’action socialiste", (Socialist action party). In 1925, he was elected to the General Council of

Bouches-du-Rhône Bouches-du-Rhône ( ; , ; ; "the Mouths of the Rhône") is a Departments of France, department in southern France. It borders Vaucluse to the north, Gard to the west and Var (department), Var to the east. The Mediterranean Sea lies to the sout ...

. Among his friends and "electoral agents" were the French mafiosi Paul Carbone, François Spirito, as well as Antoine Guérini, who had helped him get into the mayor´s office of Marseille in 1929. From 1928 to 1936, he served as a member of the

, representing Bouches-du-Rhône, succeeded by François Billoux. From 1929 to 1935 he served as an advisor to the Deputy Mayor of

.Marie-Helene Porri
''De Mémé à Jean-Noël Guérini''
Mon Petit Editeur, 2012, p. 15Mary Dewhurst Lewis ''The Boundaries of the Republic: Migrant Rights and the Limits of Universalism in France, 1918-1940'', Stanford University Press, 2007, p. 9

/ref> In 1936, he joined the

Parti Populaire Français The French Popular Party (, PPF) was a French fascist and anti-semitic political party led by Jacques Doriot before and during World War II. It is generally regarded as the most collaborationist party of France. Formation and early y ...

(PPF) led by

Jacques Doriot Jacques Doriot (; 26 September 1898 – 22 February 1945) was a French politician, initially communist, later fascist, before and during World War II. In 1936, after his exclusion from the French Communist Party, he founded the French Popular Pa ...

, where he became a member of the political bureau, heading the local PPF section. On 4 July 1936 he addressed a right-wing faction during a demonstration in

Aix-en-Provence Aix-en-Provence, or simply Aix, is a List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, city and Communes of France, commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. A former capital of Provence, it is the Subprefectures in France, s ...

which turned violent. 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 ...

, he was the general secretary of the Marseille Bureau of the

Légion des Volontaires Français The Legion of French Volunteers Against Bolshevism (, LVF) was a unit of the German Army (1935–1945), German Army during World War II consisting of French collaboration with Nazi Germany, collaborationist volunteers from France. Officially de ...

, a collaborator of the

Vichy regime 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 ...

. On 5 August 1942 he was arrested alongside Paul Carbone in Marseille over the possible murder of two women and the shooting of five more people during the

Bastille Day Bastille Day is the common name given in English-speaking countries to the national day of France, which is celebrated on 14 July each year. It is referred to, both legally and commonly, as () in French, though ''la fête nationale'' is also u ...

march a month earlier. Meanwhile, he acted as an informant to the

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

throughout the war. Shortly after the war, members of the

French resistance The French Resistance ( ) was a collection of groups that fought the German military administration in occupied France during World War II, Nazi occupation and the Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy#France, collaborationist Vic ...

put him on a list of collaborators they wanted to kill. However, he went missing. He exiled himself to Sigmaringen, in Southern

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, then

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

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 ...

, and finally to

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

under the name of ''Pedro Multedo''. However, he returned to Corsica clandestinely to visit his mother when she turned almost one hundred years old.

Death

Sabiani died in 1956 in Barcelona, Spain. He was buried in the family chapel of Casamacciuli.

Works

* Simon Sabiani, ''La Vérité sur l'attentat de Marseille'', Grandes Conférences des Ambassadeurs, 1934 * Simon Sabiani, ''Colère du peuple'', Les Œuvres Françaises, 1936 (préface de

)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sabiani, Simon 1888 births 1956 deaths People from Haute-Corse Businesspeople from Marseille French expatriates in Spain French exiles French military personnel of World War I French Popular Party politicians Corsican collaborators with Nazi Germany Recipients of the Legion of Honour Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France) Politicians from Marseille Nazis who fled to Spain

Early life

Career

Death

Works

Further reading

References