Victor Barthélemy (21 July 1906 – 21 October 1985) was a French political activist, operative, and author. Originally a member 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 ...

and the

Communist International 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 Internationa ...

, he moved to the fascist French Popular Party. After an imprisonment for

collaboration Collaboration (from Latin ''com-'' "with" + ''laborare'' "to labor", "to work") is the process of two or more people, entities or organizations working together to complete a task or achieve a goal. Collaboration is similar to cooperation. The ...

, he supported far-right causes such as the European Social Movement, the "ultras" side in the

Algerian War The Algerian War (also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence) ''; '' (and sometimes in Algeria as the ''War of 1 November'') was an armed conflict between France and the Algerian National Liberation Front (Algeri ...

, the 1965 presidential campaign of Jean-Louis Tixier-Vignancour, and the ''Front national''.

Biography

Barthélemy was born in Bonifacio. His father was a socialist. During his studies at the University of Aix-en-Provence, Barthélemy supported

Action Française ''Action Française'' (, AF; ) is a French far-right monarchist and nationalist political movement. The name was also given to a journal associated with the movement, '' L'Action Française'', sold by its own youth organization, the Camelot ...

. He moved to

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

and joined the

(PCF) in 1925. Following the national congress of the PCF in

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

in 1926, delegates appointed him to membership in Secours Rouge International. After an internship in the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

in 1928, he worked for the

under the command of

Palmiro Togliatti Palmiro Michele Nicola Togliatti (; 26 March 1893 – 21 August 1964) was an Italian politician and statesman, leader of Italy's Italian Communist Party, Communist party for nearly forty years, from 1927 until his death. Born into a middle-clas ...

. He carried out missions to Spain and

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. Barthélemy distanced himself from the PCF in 1930, but eagerly joined French Popular Party (PPF) 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 French Communist Party, he founded the French Popular Pa ...

in 28 June 1936 and quickly rose through the ranks. Disillusioned with Communism, he was attracted to the "revolutionary authenticity" of fascism and

National Socialism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was frequ ...

. In October 1936 he was appointed to the position of the Federal secretary of the party for the

Alpes-Maritimes Alpes-Maritimes (; ; ; ) is a Departments of France, department of France located in the country's southeast corner, on the France–Italy border, Italian border and Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast. Part of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'A ...

, centered in

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one millionpolitical bureau. In November 1939, he became secretary-general of the party and was installed in Paris. He was a contributor to '' L'Émancipation nationale'' ( he National Emancipation, and '' Le Cri du peuple''. When the PPF Congress met in

Villeurbanne Villeurbanne (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Metropolis of Lyon in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in eastern France. It is situated northeast of Lyon, with which it forms the heart of the second-largest metropolitan area in France ...

in July 1941 he was appointed secretary general of both zones. He participated in the creation of the Legion of French Volunteers Against Bolshevism, of which he was member of the Central Committee. On 6 August 1944, Barthélemy fled Paris ahead of the Allies' advance. He then took refuge in the

Sigmaringen enclave The Sigmaringen enclave was a temporary government-in-exile formed by remnants of France's Nazi-collaborating Vichy regime during the final stages of World War II. Established in the requisitioned Sigmaringen Castle in southwestern Ger ...

. In November 1944, he was chosen to represent the PPF to the

Italian Social Republic The Italian Social Republic (, ; RSI; , ), known prior to December 1943 as the National Republican State of Italy (; SNRI), but more popularly known as the Republic of Salò (, ), was a List of World War II puppet states#Germany, German puppe ...

. After Doriot's death in February 1945, Barthélemy, Simon Sabiani, and Marcel Marschall formed a triumvirate to head the PPF. Barthélemy moved to

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

in April 1945. Arrested on 2 May, he was handed over to French authorities, tried by a

military tribunal Military justice (or military law) is the body of laws and procedures governing members of the armed forces. Many nation-states have separate and distinct bodies of law that govern the conduct of members of their armed forces. Some states us ...

, and sentenced to several years in

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where Prisoner, people are Imprisonment, imprisoned under the authority of the State (polity), state ...

Post-war

After his release, Barthélemy joined the European Social Movement of Maurice Bardèche in 1951. He was on the board of Bardèche's journal '' Défense de l'Occident'' ("Defense of the West"). Barthélemy was a member of the Front national pour l'Algérie française (FNAF, National Front for French Algeria); founded in Paris in June 1960 and dissolved by

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 ...

after an "ultra" rebellion in December 1960. He supported the '' Secours populaire pour l'entraide et la solidarité'' (1960–1964), whose purpose was to aid OAS prisoners of

French Algeria French Algeria ( until 1839, then afterwards; unofficially ; ), also known as Colonial Algeria, was the period of History of Algeria, Algerian history when the country was a colony and later an integral part of France. French rule lasted until ...

. Barthélemy became part of the committee to support Jean-Louis Tixier-Vignancour in the December 1965 presidential election. Barthélemy participated in the creation of the National Front of

Jean-Marie Le Pen Jean Louis Marie Le Pen (20 June 1928 – 7 January 2025), commonly known as Jean-Marie Le Pen (), was a French politician, lawyer and activist. He founded the far-right National Front (now National Rally) party and served as the party's presi ...

in 1972Périne Schir
The French Connections of the Italian Far Right, from the MSI to Fratelli d’Italia
Illiberalism Studies Program, 2022. ffhal-03858802f and was its administrative secretary from 1974 to May 1978. In 1978, his memoir, ''Du communisme au fascisme, histoire d'un engagement politique'' ( 'From Communism to Fascism: A History of Political Commitment'', was published by Éditions Albin Michel. Philip Rees described it as "perhaps the most interesting and revealing of all the accounts of political conversion from extreme left to extreme right and a vital source book for the history of the PPF." He retired to the

south of France Southern France, also known as the south of France or colloquially in French as , is a geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi atlantique'', Atlas e ...

. He died in

in 1985 at the age of 79.

References

Sources

* '' Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890'' edited by Philip Rees, 1991,

External links

Photograph from 1944
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barthelemy, Victor 1906 births 1985 deaths Writers from Ajaccio Aix-Marseille University alumni Legion of French Volunteers Against Bolshevism personnel Comintern people French Communist Party members 20th-century French memoirists French Popular Party politicians National Rally politicians French male writers Former Marxists Politicians from Ajaccio People convicted of indignité nationale