Henry du Moulin de Labarthète (1900–1948) was a French senior civil servant, tax auditor, diplomat and memoirist. He served as Cabinet Secretary under Marshal

Philippe Pétain Henri Philippe Benoni Omer Pétain (24 April 1856 – 23 July 1951), commonly known as Philippe Pétain (, ) or Marshal Pétain (french: Maréchal Pétain), was a French general who attained the position of Marshal of France at the end of Worl ...

from 1940 to 1942. He was a staunch supporter of the

Révolution nationale The ''Révolution nationale'' (, ''National Revolution'') was the official ideological program promoted by the Vichy regime (the “French State”) which had been established in July 1940 and led by Marshal Philippe Pétain. Pétain's regime wa ...

. He was described as "an influential man in the

Vichy government 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 terr ...

."Jérôme Cotillon
Un homme d’influence à Vichy : Henry du Moulin de Labarthète
''Revue Historique'', 2002, issue 622, pp. 353-385 He was opposed to German policies and, after resigning from government positions in December 1943, he went into exile in Switzerland until 1947. He retired and died in France.

Early life

Henry du Moulin de Labarthète was born on March 19, 1900, in Paris.Henry Du Moulin de Labarthète (1900-1948)
Bibliothèque nationale de FranceHenry du Moulin de Labarthète
GeneaNet His father was Edmond du Moulin de Labarthète and his mother, Marguerite Pothier. He had five siblings. His paternal family had belonged to the

French nobility The French nobility (french: la noblesse française) was a privileged social class in France from the Middle Ages until its abolition on June 23, 1790 during the French Revolution. From 1808 to 1815 during the First Empire the Emperor Napol ...

since the 16th century. His paternal grandfather, Henri du Moulin de Labarthète, was a magistrate. His maternal grandfather, Edgar Pothier, was a French general. As some of his ancestors served in the Continental Army during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

, he was a member of the Society of the Cincinnati. He was educated at the Collège Stanislas de Paris, where he passed his Baccalaureate in 1918. He graduated from 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 ...

in 1921, where he received a law degree.Bernadette Suau, ''Mémoire des Landes: dictionnaire biographique'', Dax, Landes: Comité d'études sur l'histoire et l'art de Gascogne, 1991, p. 13

/ref> He was a member of the

Conférence Olivaint The ''Conférence Olivaint'' is a French youth association, recognised as being of general interest. Founded in fall 1874, it is the oldest student association in Franc Its mission is to provide young people with training in public life, notably ...

, a Roman Catholic student organization. He did his military service in Syria in 1922.

Career

He was a senior civil servant, and became a tax auditor in 1925. From 1928 to 1930, he served as Chief of Staff to Henry Chéron, the

Minister of Finances A ministry of finance is a part of the government in most countries that is responsible for matters related to the finance. Lists of current ministries of finance Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Finance (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Finance and Ec ...

. He remained of Staff when

Paul Reynaud Paul Reynaud (; 15 October 1878 – 21 September 1966) was a French politician and lawyer prominent in the interwar period, noted for his stances on economic liberalism and militant opposition to Germany. Reynaud opposed the Munich Agreement of ...

became the Minister in 1930. A year later, in January 1931, as Reynaud became the Minister of the Colonies, he was his co-Chief of Staff. He then served at the

Bank of West Africa Bank of British West Africa (BBWA) was a British Overseas bank that was important in introducing modern banking into the countries that emerged from the UK's West African colonies. In 1957 it changed its name to Bank of West Africa, and in 1965 wa ...

in 1932. He was appointed again as Paul Reynaud's Chief of Staff when the latter became Minister of Justice in 1938. In 1939, he was appointed as a financial attaché at the French embassy in Madrid, when

was the French Ambassador to Spain. In 1939, as France joined World War II, he served briefly in Franche-Comté and

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

. By October 1939, while

Raoul Dautry Raoul Dautry (16 September 1880 – 21 August 1951) was a French engineer, business leader and politician. He was born on 16 September 1880 at Montluçon in the department of Allier; he died on 21 August 1951 at Lourmarin in the department of Vauc ...

was Minister of Armament, he was sent back to Spain and Portugal to negotiate the purchase of

pyrite The mineral pyrite (), or iron pyrite, also known as fool's gold, is an iron sulfide with the chemical formula Fe S2 (iron (II) disulfide). Pyrite is the most abundant sulfide mineral. Pyrite's metallic luster and pale brass-yellow hue giv ...

and mercury for French ordnance, but he was unsuccessful. From 1940 to 1942, he served as the Cabinet Secretary to Pétain, then Marshal of France. A Maurrassian, he became a staunch supporter of the

spearheaded by Pétain.Mathias Bernard, ''La Guerre des droites : De l’affaire Dreyfus à nos jours'', Odile Jacob, 2007, p. 9

/ref> He was appointed by Finance Minister Pierre Cathala as a financial attaché at the French embassy in Bern, Switzerland, from 1942 to 1943. However, he resigned in December 1943 due to disagreements with the German policies implemented under Prime Minister

Pierre Laval Pierre Jean Marie Laval (; 28 June 1883 – 15 October 1945) was a French politician. During the Third Republic, he served as Prime Minister of France from 27 January 1931 to 20 February 1932 and 7 June 1935 to 24 January 1936. He again occ ...

. As a result, he went into exile in Switzerland until 1947. During his years of exile, he wrote his memoirs, based on his memories of events from July 1940 to August 1942, entitled ''Le Temps des illusions - Souvenirs''. It was released by a Swiss publisher in 1946. He also wrote a history of his paternal family, published in 1946 by the same publisher. Meanwhile, in the aftermath of World War II, he was barred from the civil service in 1945. However, he filed a lawsuit and was cleared in 1948. He was a recipient of the

Order of the Francisque The Order of the Gallic Francisque () is an order and medal which was awarded by the Vichy Regime, the Nazi-aligned government of France during World War II. The order was created by the ''arrêtés'' of 26 May 1941, the law of 16 May 1941 and ...

Personal life

He married Béatrice Brinquant (1905-1992) on January 29, 1930.

Death

He died of a heart attack on October 10, 1948, in Aire-sur-l'Adour, rural Southwestern France.

Bibliography

*''Le Temps des illusions – Souvenirs (juillet 1940-avril 1942)'' (Geneva, Switzerland: Les Éditions du cheval ailé, 1946). *''La vie en Armagnac et en Tursan à travers celle d’une de leurs familles (1450-1942)'' (Geneva, Switzerland: Les Éditions du cheval ailé, 1946).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moulin de Labarthete, Henry du 1900 births 1948 deaths Civil servants from Paris People from Aquitaine University of Paris alumni French diplomats People of Vichy France French exiles Order of the Francisque recipients 20th-century French memoirists French collaborators with Nazi Germany