Johann Zénon Bernard (13 February 1893 – 25 June 1942) was a

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

ish communist politician. He led the

Communist Party of Luxembourg The Communist Party of Luxembourg (; ; ; KPL or PCL) is a communist party in Luxembourg. is the current chairman of the party. History The KPL was founded on 2 January 1921, in the town of Niederkorn, making it one of the oldest parties ...

during its first two decades of existence, and was the first communist elected to the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

. He died in German captivity during the

Second World War 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 ...

Political activism

Bernard was born in Kahler. He was a metal worker by profession. He joined the socialist movement when the

First World War 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 ...

broke out. He became a leading figure in the leftwing faction of the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

, advocating affiliation to 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 ...

. In January 1921, he took part in the founding of the Communist Party of Luxembourg and became the secretary of the Central Committee of the party. In May 1921, he became the party chairman.

Great Soviet Encyclopedia The ''Great Soviet Encyclopedia'' (GSE; , ''BSE'') is one of the largest Russian-language encyclopedias, published in the Soviet Union from 1926 to 1990. After 2002, the encyclopedia's data was partially included into the later ''Great Russian Enc ...

Бернард, Зенон
/ref> Bernard was elected to parliament in the 1934 national election. He was the first Luxembourgish communist elected to parliament. He was, however, barred from occupying his seat by the centre-right majority, on the pretext that as a revolutionary Bernard could not swear on the Constitution.Jacobs, Francis, and John Fitzmaurice.
Western European Political Parties: A Comprehensive Guide
'. Longman international reference. Harlow, Essex, U.K.: Longman, 1989. p. 245

Resistance and imprisonment

After the German invasion of Luxembourg in the Second World War, Bernard headed the underground activities of the Communist Party. He was arrested by

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 ...

in September 1940. Bernard died in German captivity in

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in North Hesse, northern Hesse, in Central Germany (geography), central Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel (region), Kassel and the d ...

Sports

Bernard was a football player in his youth. He played for

Sporting Club Luxembourg Sporting Club Luxembourg are a now defunct Luxembourgian football team which was merged with Racing Club Luxembourg to become CA Spora Luxembourg CA Spora Luxembourg was a football club, based in Luxembourg City, in southern Luxembourg. It is ...

between 1911 and 1914. He played in the

Luxembourg national football team The Luxembourg national football team (nicknamed the ''Red Lions''; , , ) is the national association football, football team of Luxembourg, and is controlled by the Luxembourg Football Federation. The team plays most of its home matches at the ...

twice, against France on 29 October 1911, and again against France on 8 February 1914.EU-Football.info.
PLAYER: Zenon Bernard
' In the latter game, a friendly, he scored a goal, and Luxembourg won the match by 5–4, the only time Luxembourg ever beat France.

Streets

Bernard was a resident of

Esch-sur-Alzette Esch-sur-Alzette (, ; ; or ''Esch an der Alzig'') is a city in Luxembourg and the country's List of communes of Luxembourg by population, second-most populous commune, with a population of 36,625 inhabitants, . It lies in the south-west of the ...

.Archives nationales de Luxembourg.
CR 3643 Zénon Bernard, 1947-1947 (Dossier)
' A street is named after him in the city, where the Communist Party and its newspaper '' Zeitung vum Lëtzebuerger Vollek'' has its offices. There is also a street named after him in

Differdange Differdange (; or locally ; ) is a Communes of Luxembourg, commune with List of towns in Luxembourg, town status in south-western Luxembourg, west from the Luxembourg City, country's capital. It lies near the borders with Belgium and France an ...

.Ville de Differdange.
Commissions Consultatives
'

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernard, Zenon 1893 births 1942 deaths Communist Party of Luxembourg politicians Luxembourgian men's footballers Luxembourg men's international footballers Luxembourg Resistance members Resistance members killed by Nazi Germany People from Capellen (canton) Luxembourgian people who died in Nazi concentration camps Men's association football forwards