Emmanuel d'Astier de La Vigerie (6 January 190012 June 1969) was a French

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

and member of the

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 ...

Biography

Born in Paris, he attended the Naval Academy but resigned from the

French Navy The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...

in 1923. He became a journalist and a poet and was involved with the

integralist In politics, integralism, integrationism or integrism (french: intégrisme) is an interpretation of Catholic social teaching that argues for an authoritarian and anti- pluralist Catholic state, wherever the preponderance of Catholics withi ...

and monarchist journal ''

Action Française Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

'', but turned towards the Left after the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, link ...

(1936–39). When the Second World War broke out, d'Astier re-enlisted into the French Navy and became the head of

naval intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist commanders in their decisions. This aim is achieved by providing an assessment of data from a ...

. However, after the fall of France and the proclamation of

Vichy France Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its te ...

, he was dismissed for his political dossier. In

Clermont-Ferrand Clermont-Ferrand (, ; ; oc, label=Auvergnat, Clarmont-Ferrand or Clharmou ; la, Augustonemetum) is a city and commune of France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, with a population of 146,734 (2018). Its metropolitan area (''aire d'attract ...

, d'Astier formed the Resistant group ''La Dernière Colonne'', later known as Libération-sud, with

Raymond Aubrac Raymond Aubrac (31 July 1914 – 10 April 2012) was a leader of the French Resistance during the Second World War and a civil engineer after the Second World War. Early life Aubrac was born Raymond Samuel into a middle-class Jewish family in Ves ...

Lucie Aubrac Lucie Samuel (29 June 1912 – 14 March 2007), born Lucie Bernard, and better known as Lucie Aubrac (), was a French history teacher and member of the French Resistance during World War II. In 1938, she earned an agrégation of history (somethi ...

and

Jean Cavaillès Jean Cavaillès (; ; 15 May 1903 – 4 April 1944) was a French philosopher and logician who specialized in philosophy of mathematics and philosophy of science. He took part in the French Resistance within the '' Libération'' movement and was a ...

. During 1941, the group carried out two sabotage attacks at train stations in Perpignan and

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. T ...

. In February, they organised the distribution of 10,000 propaganda flyers, but one of the distributors was caught by the police, leading to the arrest of d'Astier's niece and uncle. The group decided to cease activities. After a few months' hiatus, they began to work on an underground newspaper, ''Libération''. The first edition was put together with the help of the typographers from a local newspaper and printed on paper supplied by local trade-unionists. 10,000 copies were produced in July 1941. In 1942 d'Astier met with

Jean Moulin Jean Pierre Moulin (; 20 June 1899 – 8 July 1943) was a French civil servant and French Resistance, resistant who served as the first President of the National Council of the Resistance during World War II from 27 May 1943 until his death less ...

to discuss the unification of the Resistance and eventually joined forces into the ''

Conseil National de la Résistance 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, National Council of Resistance). In 1943 he met Charles de Gaulle in Algiers and joined his

Free French Forces __NOTOC__ The French Liberation Army (french: Armée française de la Libération or AFL) was the reunified French Army that arose from the merging of the Armée d'Afrique with the prior Free French Forces (french: Forces françaises libres, l ...

government-in-exile A government in exile (abbreviated as GiE) is a political group that claims to be a Sovereign state, country or semi-sovereign state's legitimate government, but is unable to exercise legal power and instead resides in a foreign country. Govern ...

as a Commissioner to the Interior. While in London in 1943, he wrote the lyrics for the song "

La Complainte du partisan "The Partisan" is an anti-fascist anthem about the French Resistance in World War II. The song was composed in 1943 by Russian-born Anna Marly (1917–2006), with lyrics by French Resistance leader Emmanuel d'Astier de La Vigerie (1900–1969), ...

" with

Anna Marly Anna Marly (russian: Анна Юрьевна Смирнова-Марли, Anna Yurievna Smirnova-Marli), (30 October 1917 – 15 February 2006) was a Russian-born French singer-songwriter. Born into a wealthy Russian noble family, Marly came to F ...

, who wrote the music. In English, it is known as "

The Partisan "The Partisan" is an anti-fascist anthem about the French Resistance in World War II. The song was composed in 1943 by Russian-born Anna Marly (1917–2006), with lyrics by French Resistance leader Emmanuel d'Astier de La Vigerie (1900–1969) ...

" and was recorded by

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...

Joan Baez Joan Chandos Baez (; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing more ...

Buffy Saint Marie Buffy Sainte-Marie, (born Beverly Sainte-Marie, February 20, 1941) is an Indigenous Canadian-American (Piapot Cree Nation) singer-songwriter, musician, composer, visual artist, educator, pacifist, and social activist. While working in these are ...

and many others. After the Liberation, d'Astier became

Minister of Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergenc ...

in the Provisional Government of the French Republic (GPRF). He continued to publish ''Libération'' and wrote books based on his experiences. He ran as an ally of the

French Communist Party The French Communist Party (french: Parti communiste français, ''PCF'' ; ) is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its MEPs sit in the European Un ...

on the ''Union républicaine et résistante'' list in the November 1946 French legislative elections, and won a seat in 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

Ille-et-Vilaine Ille-et-Vilaine (; br, Il-ha-Gwilen) is a department of France, located in the region of Brittany in the northwest of the country. It is named after the two rivers of the Ille and the Vilaine. It had a population of 1,079,498 in 2019.

. He was later among the founders of the

Union progressiste The Progressive Union (french: Union Progressiste) was a small left-wing party in the French Fourth Republic close to the French Communist Party The French Communist Party (french: Parti communiste français, ''PCF'' ; ) is a political party i ...

. In 1958 he received the

Lenin Peace Prize The International Lenin Peace Prize (russian: международная Ленинская премия мира, ''mezhdunarodnaya Leninskaya premiya mira)'' was a Soviet Union award named in honor of Vladimir Lenin. It was awarded by a pane ...

. D'Astier was one of the founders of the Stockholm Committee; he denounced the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

leadership under

Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev s ...

after the crushing of the Hungarian uprising, and broke ties with communists. His brother, Henri d'Astier de la Vigerie, was from the far right, and, initially a member of the ''

'', may even have been involved with the ''

Cagoule A cagoule (), also spelled cagoul, kagoule or kagool, is the British English term for a lightweight weatherproof raincoat or anorak with a hood (usually without lining), which often comes in knee-length form.The Chambers Dictionary, 1994, The Ca ...

'' terrorist group. Ultimately, Henri d'Astier also took part in the

Résistance 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 ...

. Emmanuel d'Astier died in Paris in 1969. His wife Liubov was the second spouse of French politician Gaston Bergery (divorced in 1928) and the daughter of Bolshevik

Leonid Krasin Leonid Borisovich Krasin (russian: Леони́д Бори́сович Кра́син; 15 July 1870 – 24 November 1926) was a Russian Soviet politician, engineer, social entrepreneur, Bolshevik revolutionary politician and a Soviet diplomat. In ...

. They had three sons Jean-François, Christophe and Jérôme. Family friend

wrote and recorded a song, "Luba the Baroness", about learning of the death of the oldest son, Jean-François.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Astier de la Vigerie, Emmanuel d 1900 births 1969 deaths Politicians from Paris Writers from Paris Barons of France Union progressiste politicians French interior ministers Members of the Constituent Assembly of France (1945) Members of the Constituent Assembly of France (1946) Deputies of the 1st National Assembly of the French Fourth Republic Deputies of the 2nd National Assembly of the French Fourth Republic Deputies of the 3rd National Assembly of the French Fourth Republic French male poets French journalists 20th-century French poets École Navale alumni French military personnel of World War II Members of Liberation-Sud Companions of the Liberation Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur Lenin Peace Prize recipients Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery 20th-century French journalists