Maurice Clavel () (1920-1979) was a French writer, journalist, and

philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

Youth

Maurice Clavel was born on 10 November 1920 in

Frontignan Frontignan (; ) is a commune in the Hérault department in southern France. Frontignan is renowned for its AOC wine, the Muscat de Frontignan, a sweet wine made solely from the Muscat grape variety. Geography Frontignan is located in the La ...

Hérault Hérault (; oc, Erau, ) is a department of the region of Occitania, Southern France. Named after the Hérault River, its prefecture is Montpellier. It had a population of 1,175,623 in 2019.École Normale Supérieure École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

in the Rue d'Ulm in

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 ...

. There he became acquainted with

Trotskyist Trotskyism is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Ukrainian-Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky and some other members of the Left Opposition and Fourth International. Trotsky self-identified as an orthodox Marxist, a rev ...

Jean-Toussaint Desanti Jean-Toussaint Desanti (8 October 1914 – 20 January 2002) was a French educator and philosopher known for his work on both the philosophy of mathematics and phenomenology. Biography The son of Jean-François Desanti and Marie-Paule Colonna, ...

and Maurrassian

Pierre Boutang Pierre Boutang (20 September 1916 – 27 June 1998) was a French philosopher, poet and translator. He was also a political journalist, associated with the currents of Charles Maurras, Maurrasianism and Royalism. Biography Boutang was an alumnus ...

. The latter, having been appointed in the Secretariat of Public Instruction, invited him to serve by his side 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 World ...

. Having just gotten his certificate of morale and sociology in

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...

, Maurice Clavel accepted but was soon disillusioned. While preparing a thesis on

Immanuel Kant Immanuel Kant (, , ; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German philosopher and one of the central Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works in epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and ...

, he then joined 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 ...

(1942). As head the

French Forces of the Interior The French Forces of the Interior (french: Forces françaises de l'Intérieur) were French resistance fighters in the later stages of World War II. Charles de Gaulle used it as a formal name for the resistance fighters. The change in designation ...

Eure-et-Loir Eure-et-Loir (, locally: ) is a French department, named after the Eure and Loir rivers. It is located in the region of Centre-Val de Loire. In 2019, Eure-et-Loir had a population of 431,575.Chartres Chartres () is the prefecture of the Eure-et-Loir department in the Centre-Val de Loire region in France. It is located about southwest of Paris. At the 2019 census, there were 170,763 inhabitants in the metropolitan area of Chartres (as d ...

where he greeted General

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 ...

on the cathedral's forecourt. At the

Libération ''Libération'' (), popularly known as ''Libé'' (), is a daily newspaper in France, founded in Paris by Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge July in 1973 in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968. Initially positioned on the far-left of France's ...

, he denounced the blind epuration and tried to save the heads of

Robert Brasillach Robert Brasillach (; 31 March 1909 – 6 February 1945) was a French author and journalist. Brasillach was the editor of ''Je suis partout'', a nationalist newspaper which advocated fascist movements and supported Jacques Doriot. After the liberat ...

and Drieu La Rochelle. That did not prevent him from being a fervent activist in the

Rally of the French People The Rally of the French People (french: Rassemblement du Peuple Français, RPF) was a French political party, led by Charles de Gaulle. Foundation The RPF was founded by Charles de Gaulle in Strasbourg on 14 April 1947, one year after his resign ...

(RPF) whose acerbic criticism of communism got him to be accused by 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 Unit ...

(PCF) of being "

Goebbels Paul Joseph Goebbels (; 29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German Nazi politician who was the ''Gauleiter'' (district leader) of Berlin, chief propagandist for the Nazi Party, and then Reich Minister of Propaganda from 1933 to 19 ...

' voice". He then founded with

Henri d'Astier de La Vigerie Henri d'Astier de La Vigerie (11 September 1897 – 10 October 1952) was a French soldier, ''Résistance'' member, and conservative politician. Life Henri d'Astier was born in Villedieu-sur-Indre, a small village in the Indre département of cent ...

and

André Figueras André — sometimes transliterated as Andre — is the French and Portuguese form of the name Andrew, and is now also used in the English-speaking world. It used in France, Quebec, Canada and other French-speaking countries. It is a variation o ...

a newspaper called ''L'Essor''. Meanwhile, he wrote plays directed by

Jean Vilar Jean Vilar (25 March 1912– 28 May 1971) was a French actor and theatre director. Vilar trained under actor and theatre director Charles Dullin, then toured with an acting company throughout France. His directorial career began in 1943 in a sma ...

like ''Les Incendiaires'' (''The Incendiaries'') in 1947 or ''

La Terrasse de midi LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...

'' (''The Noon Terrace'') in 1949. But those failed, and as he was torn apart after breaking his relationship with comedian

Silvia Monfort Silvia Monfort (born Simone Marguerite Favre-Bertin; 6 June 1923 – 30 March 1991) was a French actress and theatre director. She was the daughter of the sculptor Charles-Maurice Favre-Bertin and the wife of Pierre Gruneberg. She was named a ...

, Clavel accepted a professor tenure in the Carnot high school in

Dijon Dijon (, , ) (dated) * it, Digione * la, Diviō or * lmo, Digion is the prefecture of the Côte-d'Or department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in northeastern France. the commune had a population of 156,920. The earlies ...

. Barely liked by his superiors, he soon got back to theatrical works when, in 1951, Jean Vilar appointed him as secretary-general of the

Théâtre National Populaire The Théâtre national populaire (French for ''People's National Theater'') is a theatre now at Villeurbanne, France. It was founded in 1920 by Firmin Gémier in Paris. Today, the TNP has a company of ten resident actors and the building is cur ...

. But his new play '' Malsameda'' (1954) as well as his first

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

'' Une fille pour l'été'' (''A Girl for the Summer'', 1955) turned out to be failures too.

Journalist

From 1955 to 1965

From 1955, Clavel started his career as a journalist writing in ''Combat''. Protesting, among other things, against the invasion of Hungary by Soviet tanks in 1956, and the use of

torture in Algeria Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. definitions of tortur ...

, he got involved with left-wing

Gaullists Gaullism (french: link=no, Gaullisme) is a French political stance based on the thought and action of World War II French Resistance leader Charles de Gaulle, who would become the founding President of the Fifth French Republic. De Gaulle withd ...

in the Democratic Union of Labour in 1959. Meanwhile, he went back to teaching as philosophy professor in Camille Sée and Buffon high school in Paris, from 1960 to 1963. With

Emmanuel Berl Emmanuel Berl (2 August 1892 – 21 September 1976) was a French journalist, historian and essayist. He was born at Le Vésinet in the modern ''Departments of France, département'' of Yvelines, and is buried in the Montparnasse Cemetery, Paris. In ...

, he presented a daily radio programme ''Qui êtes-vous ?'' (''Who are you?''). But after the refusal by managers of the radio station to grant

Jean Daniel Jean Daniel Bensaid (21 July 1920 – 19 February 2020) was a French journalist and author. He was the founder and executive editor of ''Le Nouvel Observateur'' weekly now known as ''L'Obs''. Life and career Daniel was born in Blida, Algeria, a ...

a right of reply about Algeria, he resigned. The following year, after publishing ''Le Temps de Chartres'' (''The Times of Chartres''), he ceased his regular contribution to ''Combat''. However he kept supporting General De Gaulle's position on Algeria, who entrusted him to engage in a dialogue with

Messali Hadj Ahmed Ben Messali Hadj (May 16, 1898 - June 3, 1974), commonly known as Messali Hadj, ar, مصالي الحاج, was an Algerian nationalist politician dedicated to the independence of his homeland from French colonial rule. He is often called ...

. But the year 1965 marked a fracture in his political and philosophical evolution. First, he regained faith in the

Catholic religion The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a p ...

, a conversion triggered by his reading of a book by Paul Cochois about

Pierre de Bérulle Pierre de Bérulle (4 February 1575 – 2 October 1629) was a French Catholic priest, cardinal and statesman, one of the most important mystics of the 17th century in France. He was the founder of the French school of spirituality, who could coun ...

, the founder of the Oratorians congregation. Later, the

Ben Barka affair use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = , death_cause = , body_discovered = , resting_place = , resting_place_coordinates = ...

in October of the same year led him to distance himself from De Gaulle. In an op-ed published in ''

Le Monde ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...

'' on 15 June 1966 he sanctioned his breaking with the General while announcing to the press his availability to follow the Ben Barka trial as a judicial commentator. Thus he was contacted by Hector de Galard to follow the affair for ''

Le Nouvel Observateur (), previously known as (1964–2014), is a weekly French news magazine. Based in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris, it is the most prominent French general information magazine in terms of audience and circulation. Its current editor is Cécil ...

'', starting in September 1966.

After 1965

Clavel started his contribution to ''Le Nouvel Observateur'' with virulent articles against the power, denouncing among others "the sharks and the gudgeons" (October 19, 1966). The following year he contributed to the newspaper's TV column while keeping writing in ''Combat,'' and publishing novels such as ''La Pourpre de Judée'' (''The Crimson of Judea'') or ''Les Délices du genre humain'' (''The Delights of Mankind'', 1967).

May 1968 The following events occurred in May 1968: May 1, 1968 (Wednesday) *CARIFTA, the Caribbean Free Trade Association, was formally created as an agreement between Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Guyana, and Trinidad and Tobago. *RAF Strike Co ...

radicalised his political involvement. Perceiving the events of May as a "uprise of life" from a youth weary of

consumption society Pierre Bourdieu (; 1 August 1930 – 23 January 2002) was a French people, French Sociology, sociologist and Intellectual, public intellectual. Bourdieu's contributions to the sociology of education, the Sociological theory, theory of sociology, ...

, he found the revolutionary unrest similar to a party and even wished to lead the demonstrators on 13 May to assault the

Élysée Palace The Élysée Palace (french: Palais de l'Élysée; ) is the official residence of the President of the French Republic. Completed in 1722, it was built for nobleman and army officer Louis Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, who had been appointed Gover ...

. Within ''Le Nouvel Observateur'', he supported the managers in the name of the need for a responsible management, the loneliness of columnists, and

individual responsibility In philosophy, moral responsibility is the status of morally deserving praise, blame, reward, or punishment for an act or omission in accordance with one's moral obligations. Deciding what (if anything) counts as "morally obligatory" is a princi ...

. But outside he went to serve the most radical elements of the contestation leading him to leave his tenure as philosophy professor in Buffon highschool. He won the

Prix Médicis The Prix Médicis is a French literary award given each year in November. It was founded in 1958 by and . It is awarded to an author whose "fame does not yet match his talent." The award goes to a work of fiction in the French language. In 19 ...

for ''Le Tiers des étioles'' in 1972. Clavel died on 23 April 1979 in

Asquins Asquins () is a commune in the Yonne department in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in north-central France. See also *Communes of the Yonne department *Parc naturel régional du Morvan Morvan Regional Natural Park (French: ''Parc naturel régional du ...

Yonne Yonne () is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in France. It is named after the river Yonne, which flows through it, in the country's north-central part. One of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté's eight constituent departments, it is lo ...

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clavel, Maurice 1920 births 1979 deaths People from Hérault French Popular Party politicians Rally of the French People politicians Democratic Union of Labour politicians French Resistance members French political writers French Roman Catholic writers Catholic philosophers 20th-century French philosophers 20th-century French novelists 20th-century French male writers French male novelists École Normale Supérieure alumni Prix Médicis winners 20th-century French journalists New Philosophers