Élie Bloncourt (5 May 1896 – 4 March 1978) was a French politician who represented the department of Aisne in the French National Assembly from 1936 to 1946. He was blinded by a shrapnel blast in the First World War and was part of the French resistance movement in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. He had a degree in philosophy and worked as a high school teacher, while also being involved in organizational works relating to veterans' affairs, pacifism and politics.

Early life and World War I

Bloncourt was born in

Basse-Terre Basse-Terre (, ; ; gcf, label=Guadeloupean Creole, Bastè, ) is a commune in the French overseas department of Guadeloupe, in the Lesser Antilles. It is also the ''prefecture'' (capital city) of Guadeloupe. The city of Basse-Terre is located o ...

, Guadeloupe into a political family. Melvil-Bloncourt, who was then deceased, was his great-uncle. His father had been a higher functionary but died before Élie was born, leaving his mother to raise Élie and five other siblings. With the help of a grant Élie attended Lycée Carnot in Pointe-à-Pitre, obtaining a baccalauréat in 1913.Éric Nadaud (2009
Élie Bloncourt (1896–1978), une figure du socialisme de gauche unitaire
Parlement ''Revue d'histoire politique'' 2/ 2009 (n° 12), pp. 118–131. Retrieved from Cairn.info 21 January 2015Biographie
Based on ''Biographie extraite du dictionnaire des parlementaires français de 1889 à 1940'' (Jean Jolly) and ''Biographie extraite du dictionnaire des parlementaires français de 1940 à 1958''. Retrieved from Assemblée Nationale 21 January 2015 Family circumstances, including the death of his mother, kept him from seeking higher education in France, but in 1915 he was mobilized by the French military. After initial training in Bordeaux he was sent to the

Dardanelles The Dardanelles (; tr, Çanakkale Boğazı, lit=Strait of Çanakkale, el, Δαρδανέλλια, translit=Dardanéllia), also known as the Strait of Gallipoli from the Gallipoli peninsula or from Classical Antiquity as the Hellespont (; ...

and the Macedonian front. From September to November 1917, he was back in Guadeloupe, but returned to France and was stationed in

Meuse The Meuse ( , , , ; wa, Moûze ) or Maas ( , ; li, Maos or ) is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a t ...

. In May 1918 his division entered the zone around

Château-Thierry Château-Thierry () is a French commune situated in the department of the Aisne, in the administrative region of Hauts-de-France, and in the historic Province of Champagne. The origin of the name of the town is unknown. The local tradition at ...

. During a heavy German attack on 30 May, Bloncourt was hit by a

machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) ar ...

bullet which destroyed both his eyeballs and left him permanently blinded. He was taken

prisoner A prisoner (also known as an inmate or detainee) is a person who is deprived of liberty against their will. This can be by confinement, captivity, or forcible restraint. The term applies particularly to serving a prison sentence in a prison. ...

by the Germans and sent to a camp in

Parchim Parchim (; Mecklenburgisch: ''Parchen'') is a town in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is the capital of the Ludwigslust-Parchim district. It was the birthplace of Helmuth von Moltke the Elder, to whom a monument was erected in 1876. Foun ...

Mecklenburg Mecklenburg (; nds, label= Low German, Mękel(n)borg ) is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schweri ...

Inter-war period and start of political career

After the end of the war, he returned to France in January 1919. He stayed for some months in hospital and later learned

braille Braille (Pronounced: ) is a tactile writing system used by people who are visually impaired, including people who are blind, deafblind or who have low vision. It can be read either on embossed paper or by using refreshable braille disp ...

and

touch typing Touch typing (also called blind typing, or touch keyboarding) is a style of typing. Although the phrase refers to typing without using the sense of sight to find the keys—specifically, a touch typist will know their location on the keyboard thr ...

in a special school. In autumn 1919 he started studying philosophy at the

University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

and obtained a bachelor's degree in 1921. He sought jobs as teacher in secondary schools, but only managed to get temporary positions leaving him to rely on his invalidity pension. He got involved in several organizations for war victims and was at various times part of the leadership in ''Union des aveugles de guerre'', ''Association des anciens combattants de la Guadeloupe'' and ''Office national des combattants, mutilés, victimes de la guerre et pupilles de la nation''. He also became involved in international pacifist work among World War I veterans and attended several conferences. In 1932 he got a teacher position at a school in

La Fère La Fère () is a commune in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in France. Population See also * Communes of the Aisne department The following is a list of the 799 communes in the French department of Aisne. The communes coope ...

, Aisne. In Aisne, Bloncourt got involved in local politics. He was elected to the general council for the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO) in 1934 and reelected in 1936. In April 1936, he was elected to the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

for the

Popular Front A popular front is "any coalition of working-class and middle-class parties", including liberal and social democratic ones, "united for the defense of democratic forms" against "a presumed Fascist assault". More generally, it is "a coalition ...

. He was the first black député for a constituency inside the

Metropolitan France Metropolitan France (french: France métropolitaine or ''la Métropole''), also known as European France (french: Territoire européen de la France) is the area of France which is geographically in Europe. This collective name for the European ...

(1936–1940, 1945–1947), and first black conseiller général of the métropole. In the Parliament, Bloncourt in particular worked with issues regarding war veterans and military pensions. He was also member of commissions regarding Algeria and French colonies. While he had previously opposed any, he supported the first ministry of Léon Blum which was formed in 1936 and lasted to 1937. Bloncourt was in the 1930s preoccupied with the danger of fascism and advocated a unified anti-fascist front of Socialist and Communists. He also wanted a unified front among non-fascist countries and approved the

Franco-Soviet Treaty of Mutual Assistance The Franco-Soviet Treaty of Mutual Assistance was a bilateral treaty between France and the Soviet Union with the aim of enveloping Nazi Germany in 1935 to reduce the threat from Central Europe. It was pursued by Maxim Litvinov, the Soviet forei ...

in May 1935. His insistence on the need of defense against fascism put him at odds with some former friends in the pacifist movement.

World War II

When World War II started, Bloncourt immediately took a strong stand against any cooperation with the Germans and did not attend the Parliament's gathering in Vichy on 10 July 1940. Among with other members of S.F.I.O. he organized the underground Socialist Party in the occupied zone and became the organization's leader. He became responsible for organizing the Libération-Nord in Aisne where he participated in the

Brutus Network The Brutus Network (french: Réseau Brutus) was a French Resistance movement during World War II. It was founded in 1941 by Pierre Fourcaud, parachuted in France with instructions from Charles de Gaulle to set up an intelligence network,

which spied on and registered the movements of the occupying forces. As a member of the ''Comité ministériel pour les colonies'' of the

National Council of the Resistance The National Council of the Resistance (also, National Resistance Council; in French: ''Conseil National de la Résistance'' (CNR), was the body that directed and coordinated the different movements of the French Resistance: the press, trade uni ...

(CNR), he took part in the reoccupation of the building for the Ministry of the Colonies in Paris on 25 August 1944. On 30 August he took control over the prefecture of Laon of behalf of the CNR and there installed a committee for liberation of the department.

Post-World War II

In October 1945, Bloncourt and his friend Jean Pierre-Bloch topped the S.F.I.O. list in the Aisne in the election to the National Assembly and both were elected. A supporter of unity between parties on the left, Bloncourt became increasingly in opposition to the political direction of the SFIO. He lost his place in the executive board of the party in 1946 and also lost his place in parliament the same year; as the local party preferred another candidate for the second constituting parliament. He went on to reestablish and the Bataille socialiste fraction of the SFIO in 1947, turned it into a new political party ''Mouvement socialiste unitaire et démocratique'' and was eventually excluded from the SFIO in 1948. After his parliamentary career ended, Bloncourt settled in Paris and worked as teacher at the

Lycée Charlemagne The Lycée Charlemagne is located in the Marais quarter of the 4th arrondissement of Paris, the capital city of France. Constructed many centuries before it became a lycée, the building originally served as the home of the Order of the Jesui ...

and at the Centre national d'enseignement par correspondence. He retired in 1960. He continued to be involved in politics through minor political parties and other engagements. In 1960 he started the ''Comité d’aide aux victimes de la répression'' to support those who opposed the French war in Algeria. On 22 June 1968, he was one of 29 signers of a letter in ''Le Monde'' which condemned as undemocratic certain measures by the

De Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (; ; (commonly abbreviated as CDG) 22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French army officer and statesman who led Free France against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Governm ...

government.

Personal life

After World War I, Bloncourt's wife and a son who lived in Guadeloupe joined him in metropolitan France. His brother Max Clainville-Bloncourt was an advocate in Paris. Another brother participated in World War I where he was wounded and later settled in Haiti.Rosie Bourget (29 October 2014
Mourir pour une cause perdue : L'histoire De Tony Bloncourt
Haiti Actualites That brother's son, Tony Bloncourt, was part of the French Communist resistance movement during World War II and executed by the Germans in 1942.Alexandre Mathis (10 April 2012

''Les Influences'' Tony's brother is painter and photographer

Gérald Bloncourt Gérald Bloncourt (4 November 1926 – 29 October 2018), also known as Gérard Bloncourt, was a Haitian painter and photographer resident in the suburbs of Paris, France. Born in the small city of Bainet, in Haiti's Sud-Est department, Bloncour ...

Awards

*Commander of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

(au titre militaire)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bloncourt, Elie 1896 births 1978 deaths People from Basse-Terre French people of Guadeloupean descent Black French politicians French Section of the Workers' International politicians Members of the 16th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Members of the Constituent Assembly of France (1945) French military personnel of World War I French Resistance members Commandeurs of the Légion d'honneur