Marc Augier (19 March 190816 December 1990), better known by the

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

Saint-Loup, was a French

anti-capitalist Anti-capitalism is a political ideology and movement encompassing a variety of attitudes and ideas that oppose capitalism. In this sense, anti-capitalists are those who wish to replace capitalism with another type of economic system, such as so ...

, later turned into

fascist Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and the ...

, politician, writer and mountaineer.

Early years

Augier's earliest direct political involvement began in the

Republican-Socialist Party The Republican-Socialist Party (french: Parti républicain-socialiste, PRS) was a French socialist political party during the French Third Republic founded in 1911 and dissolved in 1934. Founded by non-Marxist socialists who refused to join ...

, although the main focus of his youthful energies was the ''Centre laïc des auberges'', a non-political group central to the development of

youth hostel A hostel is a form of low-cost, short-term shared sociable lodging where guests can rent a bed, usually a bunk bed in a dormitory, with shared use of a lounge and sometimes a kitchen. Rooms can be mixed or single-sex and have private or shared ...

s in France. Philip Rees, '' Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890'', 1990, p. 15 Although its leader

Jean Giono Jean Giono (30 March 1895 – 8 October 1970) was a French writer who wrote works of fiction mostly set in the Provence region of France. First period Jean Giono was born to a family of modest means, his father a cobbler of Piedmontese descent a ...

was not a fascist, it was Augier's fascination with Giono's

primitivism Primitivism is a mode of aesthetic idealization that either emulates or aspires to recreate a "primitive" experience. It is also defined as a philosophical doctrine that considers "primitive" peoples as nobler than civilized peoples and was an o ...

that eventually led the young Augier to adopt that ideology. He was also a supporter of

paganism Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. I ...

against Christian "decadence".

Collaboration

Augier formed his own group, the ''Les Jeunes de l'Europe Nouvelle'', in 1941, attracting 4000 members and affiliating to the

Groupe Collaboration The Groupe Collaboration was a French collaborationist group active during the Second World War. Largely eschewing the street politics of many such contemporary groups, it sought to establish close cultural links with Nazi Germany and to appeal to ...

. He became associated with the

Breton nationalist Breton nationalism ( Breton: ''roadelouriezh Brezhoneg'', French: ''nationalisme Breton'') is a form of regional nationalism associated with the region of Brittany in France. The political aspirations of Breton nationalists include the desire ...

Alphonse de Châteaubriant Alphonse Van Bredenbeck de Châteaubriant (; 25 March 1877 – 2 May 1951) was a French writer who won the Prix Goncourt in 1911 for his novel ''Monsieur de Lourdines'' and Grand prix du roman de l'Académie française for '' La Brière'' in 1923 ...

, a leading figure in the Groupe, and was for a time business manager of his journal

La Gerbe ''La Gerbe'' (, ''The Sheaf'') was a weekly newspaper of the French collaboration with Nazi Germany during World War II that appeared in Paris from July 1940 till August 1944. Its political-literary line was modeled after ''Candide'' and '' Grin ...

. Augier then joined the political bureau of

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 ...

French Popular Party The French Popular Party (french: Parti populaire français) was a French fascist and anti-semitic political party led by Jacques Doriot before and during World War II. It is generally regarded as the most collaborationist party of France. ...

(PPF). He enlisted in the

Legion of French Volunteers Against Bolshevism The Legion of French Volunteers Against Bolshevism (french: Légion des volontaires français contre le bolchévisme, LVF) was a unit of the German Army during World War II consisting of collaborationist volunteers from France. Officially design ...

and served on the Eastern Front whilst also launching and editing the group's paper ''Le Combattant Européen''. He served in both the LVF and the French Waffen SS as a war correspondent. He was also responsible for the French Waffen SS' official organ, ''Devenir'' ("To become" or "Becoming"). However Augier, who still supported economic socialism and hoped that

Nazism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) i ...

would take seriously the 'socialism' part of its name, grew disillusioned by the distinct lack of

anti-capitalism Anti-capitalism is a political ideology and movement encompassing a variety of attitudes and ideas that oppose capitalism. In this sense, anti-capitalists are those who wish to replace capitalism with another type of economic system, such as ...

amongst the SS men with whom he served.

Post-war writing

In 1945 he went underground and published ''Face Nord'' ("North Face") under the pseudonym M-A de Saint-Loup to pay for his passage to Argentina. The book had some success in France. In

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

he acted as a technical adviser to

Juan Perón Juan Domingo Perón (, , ; 8 October 1895 – 1 July 1974) was an Argentine Army general and politician. After serving in several government positions, including Minister of Labour and Vice President of a military dictatorship, he was elected ...

and also enlisted in the

Argentine Army The Argentine Army ( es, Ejército Argentino, EA) is the Army, land force branch of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic and the senior military service of Argentina. Under the Argentine Constitution, the president of Argentina is the comman ...

, attaining the rank of lieutenant-colonel. He also acted as

Eva Peron Eva or EVA may refer to: * Eva (name), a feminine given name Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters * Eva (Dynamite Entertainment), a comic book character by Dynamite Entertainment * Eva (''Devil May Cry''), Dante's mother in ...

's ski instructor. He was pardoned and returned to France in 1953. Once back in France he published ''La Nuit commence au Cap Horn'' ("The Night begins in Cap Horn") as Saint-Loup. He may have won the prestigious Prix Goncourt for the book but ''Le Figaro Littéraire'' exposed Augier as the true author. Of the entire jury only

Colette Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (; 28 January 1873 – 3 August 1954), known mononymously as Colette, was a French author and woman of letters. She was also a mime, actress, and journalist. Colette is best known in the English-speaking world for her ...

refused to retract her vote for Saint-Loup during the ensuing uproar.Dominique Venner, Histoire de la Collaboration, Pygmalion, 2000, p. 536 Saint-Loup continued to work as an author and journalist, writing several books about the LVF (''Les Volontaires''; "The Volunteers") and both the French (''Les Hérétiques''; "The Heretics", ''Les Nostalgiques''; "The Nostalgics") and Belgian Waffen SS (''Les SS de la Toison d'or''; "The SS of the Golden Fleece"). His writing was marked by a pursuit of adventure, the desire to surpass the self and an antipathy to Christian philosophy. He was an apologist for the foreign SS volunteers with whom he had served. He published several works about regionalist movements and about man's struggle to survive in wild and savage environments. He was also fascinated by cars and motorised transport and wrote biographies of Louis Renault and Marius Berliet. His last novel, ''La République du Mont-Blanc'' ("The Republic of Mont-Blanc"), was about the survival of a small Savoyard community that took refuge on the mountain to escape intermixing and decadence. Saint-Loup influenced certain pagan and far-right authors such as Pierre Vial and

Jean Mabire Jean Mabire (8 February 1927—29 March 2006) was a French journalist and essayist. A neo-pagan and nordicist, Mabire is known for the regionalist and euronationalist ideas that he developed in both '' Europe-Action'' and GRECE, as well as hi ...

Later years

He would later return to France where he worked closely with René Binet whilst also acting as president of

Dominique Venner Dominique Venner (; 16 April 1935 – 21 May 2013) was a French historian, journalist and essayist. Venner was a member of the Organisation armée secrète and later became a European nationalist, founding '' Europe-Action'', before w ...

's ''Comité France-

Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of So ...

''. He was featured heavily in France's far right journals until his death.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Augier, Marc 1908 births 1990 deaths Writers from Bordeaux Republican-Socialist Party politicians French Popular Party politicians French collaborators with Nazi Germany French Waffen-SS personnel French fascists French military personnel of World War II War correspondents of World War II 20th-century French non-fiction writers 20th-century French male writers French expatriates in Argentina Argentine Army officers French modern pagans Modern pagan writers French male non-fiction writers 20th-century pseudonymous writers