Henry Coston (

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, 20 December 1910 –

Caen Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000,Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

, 26 July 2001) was a French

far-right Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...

anti-Semitic Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

journalist, collaborationist and

conspiracy theorist A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that invokes a conspiracy by sinister and powerful groups, often political in motivation, when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * * * * The term has a nega ...

Biography

After joining the

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 f ...

, Coston was influenced by journalist

Édouard Drumont Édouard Adolphe Drumont (3 May 1844 – 5 February 1917) was a French antisemitic journalist, author and politician. He initiated the Antisemitic League of France in 1889, and was the founder and editor of the newspaper ''La Libre Parole''. ...

and took over his newspaper ''La Libre Parole'' (an anti-Semitic paper well-known during the

Dreyfus affair The Dreyfus affair (french: affaire Dreyfus, ) was a political scandal that divided the French Third Republic from 1894 until its resolution in 1906. "L'Affaire", as it is known in French, has come to symbolise modern injustice in the Francop ...

) in the 1930s. He had previously learned his trade editing ''La France Ouvrière'' with Henry Charbonneau. At the same time he created an "Anti-Jewish Youth" organisation "which campaigned for the exclusion of Jews from French life.""Notorious French collaborator, Henri Coston, dies at 91", by Agence France-Presse, August 1, 2001. In the run-up to

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 ...

, he was also in close touch with

Ulrich Fleischhauer Ulrich Fleischhauer (14 July 1876 – 20 October 1960) (Pseudonyms ''Ulrich Bodung'', and ''Israel Fryman'') was a leading publisher of antisemitic books and news articles reporting on a perceived Judeo-Masonic conspiracy theory and "nefarious pl ...

, German publisher of an internationally distributed

anti-Jewish Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

propaganda newsletter, the ''Welt-Dienst'' / ''World-Service'' / ''Service Mondial''. During World War II, Coston belonged to

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 Communist Party, he founded the French Popular Party (P ...

's fascist PPF. He also was vice-president of the "Association of anti-Jewish Journalists" and he organised the publication of one of the most anti-Semitic document of the

Vichy regime 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 ter ...

, a tract entitled "I hate you" (''Je vous hais''). At the same period, he also wrote anti-Masonic pamphlets with his colleague

Jacques Ploncard d'Assac Jacques Ploncard (13 March 1910 – 20 February 2005), also called "Jacques Ploncard d'Assac", was a French writer and journalist and a political activist – he was, among other things, a member of the Parti Populaire Français. Following the fa ...

. In 1944, he tried to escape in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, but he was captured and sentenced to hard labour for life. He was pardoned in 1952 for illness and served only five years. He began writing again, mainly against free-masonry while he kept on denouncing the influence of Jews in French life. Until the 1990s he was contributing to different far-right newspapers. He was a supporter of the

Front National The National Rally (french: Rassemblement National, ; RN), until 2018 known as the National Front (french: link=no, Front National, ; FN), is a far-rightAbridged list of reliable sources that refer to National Rally as far-right: Academic: ...

and occasionally wrote in its paper ''National-Hebdo''. From 1967 to 2000, Coston wrote a five-volume ''Dictionary of French politics'' (''Dictionnaire de la politique française''), which is considered as "exactly referenced" and "a non-negligible source of information" by the Jewish historian Simon Epstein.''Les Dreyfusards sous l'Occupation'', Albin Michel, 2001, p.346

Notes

References

* Adrian Dannatt, "Obituary: Henry Coston", in ''The Independent'' (London), August 27, 200

* "Notorious French collaborator, Henri Coston, dies at 91", by Agence France-Presse, August 1, 2001.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Coston, Henry 1910 births 2001 deaths Writers from Paris French Popular Party politicians People affiliated with Action Française Antisemitism in France Far-right politics in France French fascists French collaborators with Nazi Germany French conspiracy theorists French anti-communists French prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by France Recipients of French presidential pardons Order of the Francisque recipients Anti-Masonry 20th-century French writers 20th-century French male writers French male non-fiction writers 20th-century French journalists