Antoine Redier (7 July 1873 – 27 July 1954) was a French writer who was leader of the far-right Légion organization in the 1920s.
Early years
Antoine Redier was born on 7 July 1873 in
Meudon
Meudon () is a municipality in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is in the département of Hauts-de-Seine. It is located from the center of Paris. The city is known for many historic monuments and some extraordinary trees. One of t ...
, the eldest of eight children of Jean Rédier and his wife Anna Thubert.
He was grandson of the watchmaker Jean Antoine Joseph Redier.
He wrote many books, including ''Méditations dans la tranchée'' (1916), which won an awards from the
Académie française
An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...
.
After
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
, Rédier became the leader of a veterans group, and was the editor of the ''Revue française''.
He was nationalist, anti-communist and socially conservative.
He believed in the virtues of a family unit headed by a patriarch,
and generally believed in the virtues of anti-Republican virility.
He supported the proposals of
Fernand Boverat for family suffrage, which would enhance the status of the father in the family.
Political career
Redier founded the ''Légion'', or ''Ligue'', in 1924. Although the goals were obscure, Rédier expected that the veterans would take power, and a leader (''chef'') would emerge.
The ''ligue'' had 10,000 members, with sections in the main provincial centers.
From 15,000 to 20,000 copies of the movement's newspaper, ''Le Rassemblement''. were printed each week.
The Légion was in favor of a
corporatist
Corporatism is a collectivist political ideology which advocates the organization of society by corporate groups, such as agricultural, labour, military, business, scientific, or guild associations, on the basis of their common interests. Th ...
system of government and attacked the left and democracy.
Its program said it stood "above the interests of a single group" and would "gather all those ... who put the salvation of France above all else."
General
Édouard de Curières de Castelnau Édouard is both a French given name and a surname, equivalent to Edward in English. Notable people with the name include:
* Édouard Balladur (born 1929), French politician
* Édouard Boubat (1923–1999), French photographer
* Édouard Colonne (1 ...
, President of the
Fédération Nationale Catholique
The Fédération Nationale Catholique (FNC) ( en, National Catholic Federation) was a French movement that was active in the 1920s and 1930s, with the purpose of defending the Catholic Church against secular trends in the governments of the time. T ...
provided funding to Rédier's ''Légion'' and to the ''
Jeunesses Patriotes
The ''Jeunesses Patriotes'' ("Young Patriots", JP) were a far-right league of France, recruited mostly from university students and financed by industrialists founded in 1924 by Pierre Taittinger. Taittinger took inspiration for the group's creati ...
'' founded by
Pierre Taittinger
Pierre-Charles Taittinger (4 October 1887 – 22 January 1965) was the founder of the Taittinger champagne house and chairman of the municipal council of Paris in 1943–1944 during the German occupation of France, in which position he pl ...
.
The ''Légion'' merged into the ''Jeunesses Patriotes'' on 1 July 1925, bringing a more extreme element into Taittinger's vaguely right-wing organization.
Redier became vice-president of the merged organization, and began to radicalize the organization.
When
Georges Valois
Georges Valois (real name ''Alfred-Georges Gressent''; 7 October 1878 – February 1945) was a French journalist and national syndicalist politician. He was a member of the French Resistance and died in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp ...
launched his rival ''
Faisceau
''Le Faisceau'' (, ''The Fasces'') was a short-lived French fascist political party. It was founded on 11 November 1925 as a far right league by Georges Valois. It was preceded by its newspaper, ''Le Nouveau Siècle'', which had been founded as ...
'' organization, Rédier was in favor of a merger.
Large numbers of ''Ligue'' members did desert to the ''Faisceau''.
By 15 December Redier had left the ''Jeunesses patriotes'', and urged all ''Légion'' members to follow his lead.
He intended to transfer to the ''Faisceau'', but held back, perhaps because of an ongoing struggle between ''Fasceau'' and the ''
Action Française
Action may refer to:
* Action (narrative), a literary mode
* Action fiction, a type of genre fiction
* Action game, a genre of video game
Film
* Action film, a genre of film
* ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford
* ''Action'' (1980 f ...
''. In March 1926 Redier again called for his remaining followers to join ''Faisceau'', before retiring from politics after ''Faisceau'' promised to support his career as a writer.
Later years
Redier continued to be a prolific author, although his work was not exceptional. His book ''La Guerre des femmes'' (1923) had won an award from the Academy. This book, which recorded the lives of women fighters such as
Louise de Bettignies
Louise Marie Jeanne Henriette de Bettignies (; 15 July 1880 - 27 September 1918) was a French secret agent who spied on the Germans for the British during World War I using the pseudonym of Alice Dubois.
She was arrested in October 1915 and im ...
, was the basis for the 1937 film ''
Sisters in Arms'' by
Léon Poirier
Léon Poirier (25 August 1884 – 27 June 1968) was a French film director, screenwriter and film producer best known for his silent films from 1913 onwards. He directed some 25 films between 1913 and 1949. His most famous film today is '' Verdun ...
. The role of Louise was played by
Jeanne Sully
Jeanne Sully (15 April 1905 - 28 June 1995) (born Jeanne Régine Champs) was a French actress.
Biography
Jeanne Marie Régine Simone Champs was born in Paris on 15 April 1905.
Her parents were the actors Jeanne Rémy and Jean Mounet-Sully, and h ...
. His ''Jeanne de France'' (1950) also won an award from the Academy.
Redier was married to French
resistance fighter
A resistance movement is an organized effort by some portion of the civil population of a country to withstand the legally established government or an occupying power and to disrupt civil order and stability. It may seek to achieve its objective ...
,
Marie Léonie Vanhoutte on 19 July 1934 in Paris.
Attendees at their wedding included
Maxim Weygand,
André Tardieu
André Pierre Gabriel Amédée Tardieu (; 22 September 1876 – 15 September 1945) was three times Prime Minister of France (3 November 1929 – 17 February 1930; 2 March – 4 December 1930; 20 February – 10 May 1932) and a dominant figure of ...
, and
Henri Gouraud
Henri Joseph Eugène Gouraud (; 17 November 1867 – 16 September 1946) was a French general, best known for his leadership of the French Fourth Army at the end of the First World War. Following this, he became the first High Commissioner of th ...
.
Redier died on 27 July 1954 in Paris.
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References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Redier, Antoine
1873 births
1954 deaths
20th-century French novelists
French biographers
French journalists
People from Meudon
French male essayists
French male novelists
20th-century French essayists
20th-century French male writers
French male biographers