Gaston Méry
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Gaston Méry (20 April 1866 – 15 July 1909) was a French author, translator and journalist. He was violently antisemitic and was also hostile to the people of the south of France, whom he saw as racially impure and inferior Latin peoples compared to the
Celts The Celts ( , see Names of the Celts#Pronunciation, pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples ( ) were a collection of Indo-European languages, Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient Indo-European people, reached the apoge ...
of the north. He founded a journal ''L'écho du merveilleux'' which was largely devoted to proving the reality of a series of visions of the Virgin Mary, Joan of Arc and Jesus reported by Marie Martel in Calvados. From 1900 until his death he was a member of the Paris municipal council.


Life

Gaston Méry was born in
Sens Sens () is a Communes of France, commune in the Yonne Departments of France, department in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in north-central France, 120 km southeast from Paris. Sens is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture and the second la ...
on 20 April 1866, son of a merchant. He completed his classical studies in Sens. After his military service he began to study law, but abandoned this when his parents were financially ruined. He moved to Paris and found work as a ''maitre répétiteur'' (teaching assistant) at the École Monge, where he spent three years. In 1889 he published '' L'école où l'on s'amuse'', in which he criticized the English system of education. While teaching he took courses at the Faculty of Law, and was licensed in 1889. The next year he was appointed copywriter at the Public Assistance, where he worked until 20 April 1891 when he resigned to become editor of the ''Libre Parole''.


Journalism

Gaston Méry joined the daily newspaper ''
La Libre Parole ''La Libre Parole'' or ''La Libre Parole illustrée'' () was a French antisemitic political newspaper founded in 1892 by journalist and polemicist Édouard Drumont. History Claiming to adhere to theses close to socialism, ''La Libre Parol ...
'' shortly after it was launched by
Édouard Drumont Édouard Adolphe Drumont (3 May 1844 – 5 February 1917) was a French journalist, author and politician, most often remembered for his antisemitic ideology and animus. He initiated the Antisemitic League of France in 1889, and was the founder ...
. He was soon made editor in chief due to his skill in exploiting scandalous affairs and his daring invective. Méry remained with the ''Libre Parole'' until his death in 1909. The newspaper, with its motto "France for the French", was aggressively antisemitic. Méry's violent polemics often resulted in duels and lawsuits. In 1895 he was tried at the Assize Court for having accused Mr. Paul Strauss, Paris city councilor, of having sold his vote. He was acquitted by the Jury of the Seine. His fought well-publicized duels with Émile Gustave Laffon, Governor of New Caledonia, Dr. Ward, physician of the Mizon mission, M. Rogier, Adolphe Possien and the Prince de la Moskowa. He defended Jean-Baptiste Bidegain( fr) in ''La Libre Parole'' when Bidegain was attacked by the media during the
Affaire des fiches The Affair of the Cards (), sometimes called the Affair of the Casseroles,The appellation is certified by Paul Naudon1. In the slang of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, “casserole” meant someone who cooked to make people talk. “Stir ...
(1904–05).
Marguerite Durand Marguerite Durand (24 January 1864 – 16 March 1936) was a French stage actress, journalist, and a leading suffragette. She founded her own newspaper, and ran for election. She is also known for having a pet lion. The Bibliothèque Margueri ...
's newspaper '' La Fronde'' refused to donate money to a fund sponsored by ''La Libre Parole'' for the widow of Colonel Hubert-Joseph Henry, who had forged the papers used in the trial of
Alfred Dreyfus Alfred Dreyfus (9 October 1859 – 12 July 1935) was a French Army officer best known for his central role in the Dreyfus affair. In 1894, Dreyfus fell victim to a judicial conspiracy that eventually sparked a major political crisis in the Fre ...
. ''La Libre Parole'' then made a series of attacks on Durand's character, accusing her of being a bad mother and a prostitute. Méry claimed she had turned away an old friend from her days as an actress, implying that she wanted to forget this aspect of her past. Durand sued the paper in December 1898. When Bradamante wrote in ''La Fronde'' that subscribing to the Henry fund would be to pay homage to a criminal, Méry countered that the ''frondeuses'' would not "'come to the aid of a mother in tears with her baby." He wrote that ''La Fronde'' was being funded by the same Jewish association that was paying to overturn the Dreyfus trial decision and to destroy the French nation. Méry was initiated into the
Martinist Martinism is a form of Christian mysticism and esoteric Christianity concerned with the fall of the first man, his materialistic state of being, deprived of his own, divine source, and the process of his eventual (if not inevitable) return, cal ...
Order in the third degree by "Papus" (
Gérard Encausse Gérard Anaclet Vincent Encausse (13 July 1865 – 25 October 1916), whose esoteric pseudonyms were Papus and Tau Vincent, was a French physician, hypnotist, and popularizer of occultism, who founded the modern Martinist Order. Early life ...
) on December 18, 1894. In 1897 he founded the review ''L'écho du merveilleux''. This journal, published between 1897 and 1909, met the demand for rational discussion of the occult. It rapidly gained a large circulation. It devoted many of its issues to proving the veracity of the visions of the child Marie Martel at
Tilly-sur-Seulles Tilly-sur-Seulles (, literally ''Tilly on Seulles'') is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. Population Events Each year, the international motocross takes place. See also *Communes of the ...
. It alleged that the words of the Virgin were identical to those pronounced at
Lourdes Lourdes (, also , ; ) is a market town situated in the Pyrenees. It is part of the Hautes-Pyrénées department in the Occitanie region in southwestern France. Prior to the mid-19th century, the town was best known for its Château fort, a ...
. Méry tried to make a portrait of the
Holy Family The Holy Family consists of the Child Jesus, the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph. The subject became popular in art from the 1490s on,Ainsworth, 122 but veneration of the Holy Family was formally begun in the 17th century by Saint François de La ...
from the words of the little seer, and tried to create the plans of the basilica from her words. Méry wrote several pamphlets on Mysticism and Occultism, of which ''Apparitions de Tilly: la Voyante de la rue de Paradis'' sold 224,000 copies.


Racism

Gaston Méry told the Comité Nationale Antijuif that, just as
Cato the Elder Marcus Porcius Cato (, ; 234–149 BC), also known as Cato the Censor (), the Elder and the Wise, was a Roman soldier, Roman Senate, senator, and Roman historiography, historian known for his conservatism and opposition to Hellenization. He wa ...
had always said "Carthage must be destroyed", "I end by telling you, we must destroy the Jews." Méry published his novel ''Jean Révolte'' at Dentu in 1892, with a main character modelled on Drumont. In this novel he expounded a new and very personal theory he called ''le Racisme''. The difference is that while Dumont hated Jews, Révolte hated southerners, and felt that only in the north was the Gallic blood pure. Behind the southerner, Jean Révolte immediately discovers the Jew: "If under the Greek we discover the Aryan, by scratching the
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
we find the Semite". In his racial theory, although the French nobility was German and the bourgeoisie was Latin, the common people of northern France were purely Celtic. Mery wrote:


Politics

Gaston Méry was a municipal councilor in Paris from 1900 to 1909. During the May 1900 municipal elections the Nationalists won 50 of the 80 seats on the Paris Municipal Council. Méry was one of the 24 Nationalists who had no other political allegiance. Mery was supported by Drumont's
Ligue antisémitique de France The Anti-Jewish League of France () was founded in 1889 by journalist Edouard Drumont, with the support of other right-wing French antisemites such as Jacques de Biez, Albert Millot, and Marquis de Morès. First known under the name of (Nati ...
and also by the Patrie Française and
Ligue des Patriotes The League of Patriots () was a French far-right league, founded in 1882 by the nationalist poet Paul Déroulède, historian Henri Martin and politician Félix Faure. The Ligue began as a non-partisan nationalist league, supported among other ...
, but not by Rochéfort's Parti Républicain Socialiste Français. Méry was elected in the first round on 6 May 1900 for the Faubourg Montmartre constituency as city councillor and general councillor of the Seine. The victorious Nationalists ordered the removal of
Urbain Gohier Urbain Gohier (born Urbain Degoulet, December 17, 1862 in Versailles – June 29, 1951) was a French lawyer and journalist best known for his publication of the anti-Semitic forgery ''The Protocols of the Elders of Zion'' in France. Orphan ...
's books from the city libraries, which they considered to be unpatriotic insults to the army, to be replaced with Méry's ''Loubet la Honte'' (Loubet the Disgrace). ''Loubet-la-Honte'' (1900) was a violent attack on
Émile Loubet Émile François Loubet (; 30 December 183820 December 1929) was the 45th Prime Minister of France from February to December 1892 and later President of France from 1899 to 1906. Trained in law, he became Mayor (France), mayor of Montélimar, w ...
, President of France, and caused a considerable stir. Méry wanted to base his political action on direct contact with the divine word, particularly during the Dreyfus affair. He joined the Republican-nationalist-anti-Semitic group, and was made a member of the Committee of Public Assistance. During the 1904 municipal elections Méry spoke in Paris to a meeting of 5,000 nationalist members of the Ligue des Patriotes and the Patrie française. He praised Drumont,
François Coppée François Edouard Joachim Coppée (; 26 January 1842 – 23 May 1908) was a French poet and novelist. Biography Coppée was born in Paris to a civil servant. After attending the Lycée Saint-Louis he became a clerk in the ministry of war and wo ...
and
Victor Henri Rochefort The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...
, none of whom had been invited to the meeting, and urged the attendees to support Drumont's PLA. However, Gabriel Syveton called on the audience to have nothing to do with Drumont or anyone, such as Méry, connected to ''La Libre Parole''. In his view antisemitism was damaging to the Patrie Française, and the party's candidates in the council elections should avoid the subject. The slogan "Down with the Jews" should not be used at the election rallies. Gaston Méry died in Paris on 15 July 1909.


Publications

Publications by Gaston Méry include: * * * * * * * * *


Notes


Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mery, Gaston 1866 births 1909 deaths People from Sens French journalists