Étienne Weill-Raynal (1887–1982) was a French historian, resistant, journalist and Socialist politician. As a scholar following

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he specialized in the subject of

reparations Reparation(s) may refer to: Christianity * Restitution (theology), the Christian doctrine calling for reparation * Acts of reparation, prayers for repairing the damages of sin History *War reparations **World War I reparations, made from G ...

. When

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

began, he was dismissed from his teaching position and sent to the

Drancy internment camp Drancy internment camp was an assembly and detention camp for confining Jews who were later deported to the extermination camps during the German occupation of France during World War II. Originally conceived and built as a modernist urban commu ...

because he was Jewish. He escaped from the internment camp, and joined the National Council of the

French Resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...

. After the war, he wrote articles in socialist newspapers and served as a member of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

from 1950 to 1951, representing

Oise Oise ( ; ; pcd, Oése) is a department in the north of France. It is named after the river Oise. Inhabitants of the department are called ''Oisiens'' () or ''Isariens'', after the Latin name for the river, Isara. It had a population of 829,419 ...

Early life

Étienne Weill-Raynal was born on 9 December 1887 in the

9th arrondissement of Paris The 9th arrondissement of Paris (''IXe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is referred to as the neuvième (; "ninth"). The arrondissement, called Opéra, is loc ...

, France.National Assembly: Étienne Weill-Raynal
/ref> His father was a supporter of the republic. His mother was a niece of

Léon Gambetta Léon Gambetta (; 2 April 1838 – 31 December 1882) was a French lawyer and republican politician who proclaimed the French Third Republic in 1870 and played a prominent role in its early government. Early life and education Born in Cahors, Ga ...

, who served as the 45th

Prime Minister of France The prime minister of France (french: link=no, Premier ministre français), officially the prime minister of the French Republic, is the head of government of the French Republic and the leader of the Council of Ministers. The prime minister ...

(1881-1882). He was Jewish. He graduated from the

École Normale Supérieure École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

. He received the

agrégation In France, the ''agrégation'' () is a competitive examination for civil service in the French public education system. Candidates for the examination, or ''agrégatifs'', become ''agrégés'' once they are admitted to the position of ''professe ...

in History in 1910. After his military service, he received a bachelor's degree in Law. He served in the

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government of France, along with the other components of the Armed For ...

during

Career

Weill-Raynal started his career as a high school teacher in

Laon Laon () is a city in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. History Early history The holy district of Laon, which rises a hundred metres above the otherwise flat Picardy plain, has always held strategic importance. In ...

. He then taught at the

Lycée Pierre-Corneille The Lycée Pierre-Corneille (also known as the Lycée Corneille) is a state secondary school located in the city of Rouen, France. Originally founded by the Jesuits in 1593, the school was secularized following the 1905 French law on the Separa ...

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of ...

, followed by the Lycée Voltaire and the

Lycée Louis-le-Grand The Lycée Louis-le-Grand (), also referred to simply as Louis-le-Grand or by its acronym LLG, is a public Lycée (French secondary school, also known as sixth form college) located on rue Saint-Jacques in central Paris. It was founded in the ...

. Weill-Raynal joined the

French Section of the Workers' International The French Section of the Workers' International (french: Section française de l'Internationale ouvrière, SFIO) was a political party in France that was founded in 1905 and succeeded in 1969 by the modern-day Socialist Party. The SFIO was found ...

, later replaced by the modern-day

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 ...

. He also became a member of the Human Rights League and the

Grand Orient de France The Grand Orient de France (GODF) is the oldest and largest of several Freemasonry, Freemasonic organizations based in France and is the oldest in Continental Europe (as it was formed out of an older Grand Lodge of France in 1773, and briefly ab ...

, a

freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

organization. He ran unsuccessfully for the National Assembly in 1924, 1932, 1936, and 1937. In 1938, he started writing a PhD thesis about

World War I reparations Following the ratification of article 231 of the Treaty of Versailles at the conclusion of World War I, the Central Powers were made to give war reparations to the Allied Powers. Each of the defeated powers was required to make payments in eith ...

. At the outset of

, he was dismissed from his teaching position because he was Jewish. He was sent to the

in 1940, but escaped. In 1941, he became acquainted with

Jean Moulin Jean Pierre Moulin (; 20 June 1899 – 8 July 1943) was a French civil servant and French Resistance, resistant who served as the first President of the National Council of the Resistance during World War II from 27 May 1943 until his death less ...

and joined the

National Council of the Resistance The National Council of the Resistance (also, National Resistance Council; in French: ''Conseil National de la Résistance'' (CNR), was the body that directed and coordinated the different movements of the French Resistance: the press, trade uni ...

of the

. After the war, Weill-Raynal defended his PhD thesis at the

University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

on 14 April 1945. In 1947, a summary of his thesis was published as ''La politique française des réparations'' by

Nouvelles Éditions latines Nouvelles ( wa, Novele) is a town of Wallonia and a district of the municipality of Mons, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Nort ...

. It was reviewed by

Maurice Baumont Maurice may refer to: People *Saint Maurice (died 287), Roman legionary and Christian martyr *Maurice (emperor) or Flavius Mauricius Tiberius Augustus (539–602), Byzantine emperor * Maurice (bishop of London) (died 1107), Lord Chancellor and L ...

in the journal ''

Revue historique The ''Revue historique'' is a French academic journal founded in 1876 by the Protestant Gabriel Monod and the Catholic Gustave Fagniez. The journal was founded as a reaction against the '' Revue des questions historiques'' created ten years earli ...

''. By 1969, American Professor Sally Marks called him "the leading authority on reparations." Weill-Raynal served as a member of the National Assembly from 1950 to 1951, representing

. He ran again in 1951, but lost to Jean Legendre. Meanwhile, he wrote for two socialist newspapers, ''

Le Populaire ''Le Populaire'' is a major independent daily newspaper in Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ...

'' and ''Nord Matin: Journal de la Démocratie Socialiste''. In 1954 he became the director of ''La Revue Socialiste''. He returned to politics, serving as an advisor to Guy Mollet until 1963.

Death

Weill-Raynal died on 14 July 1982, in the

16th arrondissement of Paris The 16th arrondissement of Paris (''XVIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is referred to as ''seizième''. The arrondissement includes part of the Arc de T ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weill-Raynal, Etienne 1887 births 1982 deaths Politicians from Paris Jewish French politicians French Section of the Workers' International politicians Deputies of the 1st National Assembly of the French Fourth Republic French Freemasons 20th-century French historians University of Paris alumni French military personnel of World War I Drancy internment camp prisoners French Resistance members Jewish resistance members during the Holocaust 20th-century French journalists Lycée Louis-le-Grand teachers