Jean Jérôme (1906–1990) was a French

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

activist and Resistance member. Born as Michał Feintuch (in French Mikhaël or Michel), he took the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

Jean Jérôme in 1940, until his death.

Biography

Born in Solotvyn, Galicia (part of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

) as one of the seven children of a vendor, he received a religious education in the local

yeshiva A yeshiva (; ; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are studied in parallel. The stu ...

(Jewish school), and spoke both

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

and

Yiddish Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...

. He started work in menial jobs at a very young age, and he became a communist after Galicia was taken over by

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

at the end of

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 ...

. Feintuch attended meetings of the newly formed and clandestine

Communist Party of Poland The interwar Communist Party of Poland (, KPP) was a communist party active in Poland during the Second Polish Republic. It resulted from a December 1918 merger of the Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania (SDKPiL) and the ...

at the age of sixteen, and he joined a

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

. After two successive arrests, he could no longer find employment, and he ultimately fled Poland in order to elude military service. He lived in

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

after 1927, working in a steel plant. He also attended lectures at the

University of Liège The University of Liège (), or ULiège, is a major public university of the French Community of Belgium founded in 1817 and based in Liège, Wallonia, Belgium. Its official language is French (language), French. History The university was foun ...

at about the same time. His political activities caused his expulsion, so he illegally crossed into France to work as an electrician in a telephone factory. He became active in the

Confédération Générale du Travail The General Confederation of Labour (, , CGT) is a national trade union center, founded in 1895 in the city of Limoges. It is the first of the five major French confederations of trade unions. It is the largest in terms of votes in the Labour C ...

(CGT-F) and the Polish mission of the ''Main-d'œuvre étrangère'' (Foreign Workers Movement) to the Central Committee of the

French Communist Party The French Communist Party (, , PCF) is a Communism, communist list of political parties in France, party in France. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its Member of the European Parliament, MEPs sit with The Left in the ...

(PCF). In 1931, he was deported to Belgium, but returned once more to become active in the

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

region, remaining a clandestine operative for several years thereafter. Feintuch became an important internal contact for the

Comintern The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern and also known as the Third International, was a political international which existed from 1919 to 1943 and advocated world communism. Emerging from the collapse of the Second Internatio ...

and

Profintern The Red International of Labor Unions (, RILU), commonly known as the Profintern (), was an international body established by the Communist International (Comintern) with the aim of coordinating communist activities within trade unions. Formally ...

; he established a relationship with the Comintern's envoy to France, Eugen Fried, and he was one in the Party section charged with sending weapons and supplies to the

Republicans Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

. After the Spanish Popular Front was crushed in 1939, Mikhaël Feintuch and his section were directed to organize the transit of tens of thousands of former fighters and other refugees into France. He also, probably, engaged in the trafficking of jewels and gold. In June 1940, his central position in the Party was confirmed by

Jacques Duclos Jacques Duclos (; 2 October 189625 April 1975) was a French Communist politician and member of Communist International (Comintern) who played a key role in French politics from 1926, when he entered the French National Assembly after defeating ...

. Feintuch, newly named Jérome, became the official supplier of paper and printing material to the Party's illegal press (which had been outlawed after the PCF had outraged public opinion and the Deladier government by condoning the

Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, officially the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and also known as the Hitler–Stalin Pact and the Nazi–Soviet Pact, was a non-aggression pact between Nazi Ge ...

.) Philippe Robrieux argued that Jérome replaced

Giulio Ceretti Giulio Ceretti, (1868–1934) was an Italian engineer and entrepreneur, active in the area of cable transport. Ceretti built the first aerial cableway with intermediate supports, and was one of the first engineers ever to design and inst ...

, the man charged with obtaining illegal funds for the Comintern. (Ceretti and

Maurice Thorez Maurice Thorez (; 28 April 1900 – 11 July 1964) was a French politician and longtime leader of the French Communist Party (PCF) from 1930 until his death. He also served as Deputy Prime Minister of France from 1946 to 1947. Pre-war Thorez, ...

had since been recalled to

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

.) When the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

occupation of France The Military Administration in France (; ) was an Military Administration (Nazi Germany), interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zone in areas of northern and western French Third ...

began, Jérome was charged with maintaining contact with other elements of the Resistance, intellectuals as well as the

Free French Forces __NOTOC__ The French Liberation Army ( ; AFL) was the reunified French Army that arose from the merging of the Armée d'Afrique with the prior Free French Forces (; FFL) during World War II. The military force of Free France, it participated ...

of General

Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French general and statesman who led the Free France, Free French Forces against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Re ...

. He was arrested in 1943, an incident still wrapped in mystery. Some speculate that his activities brought the downfall of other communist Franc Tireurs Partisans (MOI), the group pictured in the '' Affiche Rouge'' led by

Missak Manouchian Missak Manouchian (; , 1 September 1909 – 21 February 1944) was an Armenians, Armenian poet and communist activist. A survivor of the 1915–1916 Armenian genocide, he Armenians in France, moved to France from an orphanage in Lebanon in 1 ...

. Still, Jean Jérome has since been awarded numerous distinctions for his participation in the underground movement: the

Médaille de la Résistance The Resistance Medal (, ) was a decoration bestowed by the French Committee of National Liberation, based in the United Kingdom, during World War II. It was established by a decree of General Charles de Gaulle on 9 February 1943 "to recognize the ...

, the

Croix de Guerre The (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awarded during World ...

, and the

Légion d'honneur 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 ...

. The biographical profiles he himself submitted to PCF sources are very succinct. According to Philippe Robrieux, Jean Jérome acted as fundraiser for the PCF up until the 1970s, through his known business ventures in the

People's Republic of Poland The Polish People's Republic (1952–1989), formerly the Republic of Poland (1947–1952), and also often simply known as Poland, was a country in Central Europe that existed as the predecessor of the modern-day democratic Republic of Poland. ...

and in

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

Autobiographical works

*''La Part des Hommes'', Acropole, 1983 *''Les Clandestins (1940-44)'', Acropole, 1986

References

*R. Lemarquis, J. Maitron, Cl. Pennetier, ''Dictionnaire Biographique du Mouvement Ouvrier Français'', Editions Ouvrières/Editions de l'Atelier * Dictionnaire biographique de l'Internationale communiste, Editions de l'Atelier *Philippe Robrieux, ''Histoire Intérieure du Parti Communiste'', 4 volumes (1920–45), Fayard, 1980-84. *Emmanuel de Chambost, ''La direction du PCF dans la clandestinité (1941-44)'', L'Harmattan, 1997

External links

''Un homme communiste''
in ''

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 ...

'', May 12, 1990 {{DEFAULTSORT:Jerome, Jean 1906 births 1990 deaths People from Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast People from the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria Jews from Galicia (Eastern Europe) Ukrainian Jews Polish emigrants to France Comintern people Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France) Jews in the French resistance Communist members of the French Resistance Recipients of the Resistance Medal Polish communists Polish anti-fascists Polish Comintern people French people of the Spanish Civil War Polish people of the Spanish Civil War Jewish anti-fascists French anti-fascists Polish recipients of the Legion of Honour