The Brutus Network (french: Réseau Brutus) was a

French Resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...

movement during

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 opposin ...

. It was founded in 1941 by

Pierre Fourcaud Pierre Fourcaud (27 March 1898 in St Petersburg – 2 May 1998 in Paris), was one of the first Frenchmen to rally to General Charles de Gaulle in July 1940. He fought in the French army History Early history The first permanent army, ...

, parachuted in France with instructions from

Charles 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 Government ...

to set up an intelligence network,Le Réseau Brutus Boyer
and other socialist members of the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO), from the

Bouches-du-Rhône Bouches-du-Rhône ( , , ; oc, Bocas de Ròse ; "Mouths of the Rhône") is a department in Southern France. It borders Vaucluse to the north, Gard to the west and Var to the east. The Mediterranean Sea lies to the south. Its prefecture and large ...

department in the Southern Zone, and led by

Félix Gouin Félix Gouin (; 4 October 1884 – 25 October 1977) was a French Socialist politician who was a member of the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO). Personal life Félix Gouin was born in Peypin, Bouches-du-Rhône, the son of ...

. As soon as July 1941, the network almost became the armed wing of the '' Comité d'action socialiste'' (CAS - Socialist Action Committee), of which Félix Gouin had been a co-founder, along with

Daniel Mayer Daniel Raphaël Mayer (29 April 1909 – 29 December 1996) was a French politician and a member of the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO) and president of the ''Ligue des droits de l'homme'' (LDH, Human Rights League) from 1958 ...

. The CAS delegate Eugène Thomas became the leader of the Brutus Network after the arrest of Pierre Fourcaud and the departure of his brother, Jean Fourcaud, for London. Extending itself in 1942–43, Brutus became a national Resistance network in February 1943, in particular through the impulsion of André Boyer. Boasting more than 1,000 agents, its headquarters were in

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

, with

Pierre Sudreau Pierre Sudreau (13 May 1919 – 22 January 2012) was a French politician. His childhood correspondence with Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1900–1944) helped inspire the title character of the 1943 novel ''The Little Prince''. Biography Sudr ...

as responsible of the Northern Zone and Jean-Maurice Hermann of the Southern Zone. André Boyer entered the directing committee of the ''

Mouvements unis de Résistance The Communist Party of Belgium (french: Parti Communiste de Belgique, or PCB; nl, Communistische Partij van België) is a communist party in Belgium. It was founded in Wallonia in 1989 as the Communist Party of Wallonia after the Communist Party o ...

'' (United Movements of Resistance) in November 1943. At the end of this year, the network was strongly affected by the arrest of Boyer, Sudreau, and Hermann.

Gaston Defferre Gaston Defferre (14 September 1910 – 7 May 1986) was a French Socialist politician. He served as mayor of Marseille for 33 years until his death in 1986. He was minister for overseas territories in Guy Mollet’s socialist government in 1956� ...

, later mayor of Marseilles for years, succeeded to André Boyer (he was previously his deputy) as national chief.

Some members

* Jean-Louis Bazerque *

Pierre Bourthoumieux Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...

* Jean Biondi *

Élie Bloncourt 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 Fren ...

* André Boyer * André Clavé *

Raymond Gernez Raymond is a male given name. It was borrowed into English from French (older French spellings were Reimund and Raimund, whereas the modern English and French spellings are identical). It originated as the Germanic ᚱᚨᚷᛁᚾᛗᚢᚾᛞ ( ...

Ginette Kahn Bernheim Ginette may refer to: Music * "Ginette", a song by Têtes Raides. * "Ginette", a song by Beau Dommage. People * Ginette Leclerc (1912–1992), French actress * Ginette Mathiot (born 1946), French chef * Ginette Moulin, French billionaire heiress * ...

* Jean-Maurice Hermann *

Pierre Malafosse Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...

* Émilienne Moreau *

Jacques Poupault Ancient and noble French family names, Jacques, Jacq, or James are believed to originate from the Middle Ages in the historic northwest Brittany region in France, and have since spread around the world over the centuries. To date, there are over ...

Georges Ronceray Georges may refer to: Places * Georges River, New South Wales, Australia * Georges Quay (Dublin) *Georges Township, Fayette County, Pennsylvania Other uses *Georges (name) * ''Georges'' (novel), a novel by Alexandre Dumas * "Georges" (song), a 19 ...

* Eugène Thomas *

Jean Valnet Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * J ...

Gaston Vedel Gaston is a masculine given name of French origin and a surname. The name "Gaston" may refer to: People First name *Gaston I, Count of Foix (1287–1315) * Gaston II, Count of Foix (1308–1343) *Gaston III, Count of Foix (1331–1391) *Gaston ...

Footnotes

Bibliography

*Jean-Marc Binot and Bernard Boyer, ''Nom de code : Brutus'', éd. Fayard, 2007

External links

Témoignage
video testimony of a Brutus member in

Annecy Annecy ( , ; frp, Èneci or ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. It lies on the northern tip of Lake Annecy, south of Geneva, Switzerland. Nicknamed ...

{{SFIO French Resistance networks and movements French Section of the Workers' International

Some members

Footnotes

Bibliography

See also

External links