Léon Gaultier (; 1 February 1915—18 July 1997) was a French collaborator and a founding member 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:
...
.
Biography
Léon was born on 1 February 1915 in
Bourges
Bourges () is a commune in central France on the river Yèvre. It is the capital of the department of Cher, and also was the capital city of the former province of Berry.
History
The name of the commune derives either from the Bituriges, t ...
. He studied
classics
Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...
and became a professor of history.
During World War II, he worked along with
Paul Marion, General Secretary for Information in the government of
Philippe Pétain. Gaultier was a columnist for
Radio-Vichy and one of the founders of the
Milice.
Gaultier fought for Germany in the
Waffen-SS with the rank of
Untersturmführer.
He commanded a French unit on the Eastern Front in the fall of 1944 and was seriously wounded in
Galicia
Galicia may refer to:
Geographic regions
* Galicia (Spain), a region and autonomous community of northwestern Spain
** Gallaecia, a Roman province
** The post-Roman Kingdom of the Suebi, also called the Kingdom of Gallaecia
** The medieval King ...
. He was sentenced to forced labor in 1946 and released on 2 June 1948, he eventually worked for the advertising agency
Havas.
During the presidential campaign of far-right candidate
Jean-Louis Tixier-Vignancour in 1965, Gaultier was responsible for propagand and worked alongside former
Cagoulard turned resistance fighter Serge Jeanneret.
He later co-founded with
Jean-Marie Le Pen, the publishing house SERP ("Société d'études et de relations publiques")
[.] which specialized in editing historical recordings, like political speeches or military songs.
In 1972, he was among the founders of the National Council of the
National Front.
Gaultier wrote in ''
Rivarol'' and was gradually moved away from the circle of Jean-Marie Le Pen in early 1980s. Thereafter, he concentrated on writing his memoir.
Works
* .
* .
*
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaultier, Leon
1915 births
1997 deaths
French Waffen-SS personnel
French military personnel of World War II
Politicians from Bourges
National Rally (France) politicians
SS-Untersturmführer
People convicted of indignité nationale