Amédée Dunois (; 16 December 1878 – March 1945) was a French lawyer, journalist and politician.

Life

Amédée Catonné was born in Moulins-Engilbert, Nièvre on 16 December 1878. He came from a respectable family. He was a brilliant student, already displaying literary gifts and cultural tastes that would distinguish him as a humanist. He earned a doctorate in law in 1899. He adopted the name Amédée Dunois, and worked as a journalist for '' Les Temps Nouveaux'' (1906–07) and '' La Bataille syndicaliste'' (1908–12). From 24–31 August 1907 he attended the

International Anarchist Congress of Amsterdam The International Anarchist Congress of Amsterdam took place from 24 August to 31 August 1907. It gathered delegates from 14 countries, among which important figures of the anarchist movement, including Errico Malatesta, Luigi Fabbri, Benoît ...

with

Pierre Monatte Pierre Monatte (15 January 188127 June 1960) was a French trade unionist, a founder of the '' Confédération générale du travail'' (CGT, General Confederation of Labour) at the beginning of the 20th century, and founder of its journal '' La V ...

, Benoît Broutchoux, René de Marmande, Henri Beylie and others. In 1908 he joined the Anarchist Federation of the Seine and Seine-et-Oise. Amédée Dunois worked with

Jean Jaurès Auguste Marie Joseph Jean Léon Jaurès (3 September 185931 July 1914), commonly referred to as Jean Jaurès (; ), was a French socialist leader. Initially a Moderate Republican, he later became a social democrat and one of the first possibi ...

as political editor of ''

L'Humanité (; ) is a French daily newspaper. It was previously an organisation of the SFIO, ''de facto'', and thereafter of the French Communist Party (PCF), and maintains links to the party. Its slogan is "In an ideal world, would not exist." History ...

'' from 1911, and became general secretary of the journal in 1918. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

(1914–18) he was an active member of the minority movement which did not accept the

union sacrée The Sacred Union (, ) was a political truce in the French Third Republic in which the left-wing agreed during World War I not to oppose the government or call any strikes. Made in the name of patriotism, it stood in opposition to the pledge made ...

. After the war ended he continued this fight. He joined the Communist party and became a member of the directing committee. The National Bloc government imprisoned him in 1921. He continued his work with great energy, writing many articles on political news, history and doctrine, and press reviews. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

(1939–45), from September 1940 Amédée Dunois organized the underground activity of the

SFIO The C programming language provides many standard library functions for file input and output. These functions make up the bulk of the C standard library header . The functionality descends from a "portable I/O package" written by Mike Lesk at ...

in the occupied zone of France. He edited the clandestine journal ''

le Populaire ''Le Populaire'' is a major independent daily newspaper in Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal ...

'', and wrote most of the articles. In 1943 he had the opportunity to leave for

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

, but decided to return to Paris. He was raided several times by the

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

. On 8 October 1943 he was arrested and held in Fresnes Prison for a month. He was arrested again on 17 January 1944, and on 4 June 1944 was deported to the

Oranienburg Oranienburg () is a town in Brandenburg, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Oberhavel. Geography Oranienburg is on the banks of the River Havel, 35 km north of the centre of Berlin. Division of the town Oranienburg consists of ni ...

camp. He was moved to Belsen in February 1945. Amédée Dunois died in

Bergen-Belsen Bergen-Belsen (), or Belsen, was a Nazi concentration camp in what is today Lower Saxony in Northern Germany, northern Germany, southwest of the town of Bergen, Lower Saxony, Bergen near Celle. Originally established as a prisoner of war camp, ...

in Germany in March 1945. He was decorated with the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

posthumously. The ''Collėge Amédée Dunois'' in Boissy-Saint-Léger is named after him.

Works

Publications included: * * * *

References

Sources

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dunois, Amedee 1878 births 1945 deaths 20th-century French lawyers 20th-century French journalists French anarchists French male journalists 20th-century French male writers Resistance members who died in Nazi concentration camps French people who died in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp French Resistance members Oranienburg concentration camp prisoners